A Reborn Wanderer
by Shadow Master
Summary: BtVSRurouni Kenshin For one Xander Harris life is difficult enough dealing with the problems and baggage that can build up in a normal human lifespan. However as he is about to discover things can always get worse.
1. Relics of the Past

"A Reborn Wanderer" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email : : This message is merely to inform the readers that I do not own either the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or those found in the Anime Rurouni Kenshin. They are owned by someone/s else altogether most certainly spend their time, at least once a day, laughing all the way to the bank considering the money they have made off of these two shows. In any case I am using these two shows and the associated characters to tell a story of my own for both my own personal enjoyment and for the enjoyment of people who enjoy reading such fanfics. I am making no money off of this whatsoever so suing me would be quite inefficient as it would likely cost you more to pay your lawyers' legal fees than anything you could ever peel off of my bones. Therefore it is suggested that you simply let this slide by unnoticed and focus on where the real money comes from.

Note : This story will begin slightly before the episode 'Incan Mummy Girl' and will take a slightly different path than the one fans of the show likely remember. I will make the effort to write a fanfic crossover just as entertaining as the episode itself. As for the Rurouni Kenshin Anime series please keep in mind that any dialogue or scenes I cut and paste from there will be coming from the English dubbed version.

A Reborn Wanderer 

"This is so unfair!" Buffy complained as they all walked alone with the rest of their history class into the museum.

"I don't think it's that bad." Willow stated trying to get her best female friend to look on the positive side of things rather than the negative.

"It's the Uber-suck. Mom could've at least warned me." Buffy said with a look on her face similar to what one would wear when their parents refused to increase the size of their allowance despite much begging and whining.

It had been like that for most of the morning and truthfully he just wished that Buffy would quit being such a sourpuss over it. The whole cultural exchange thing was only going to be around for a week or so and then it would be over. No matter how irritating the exchange student the Slayer would get stuck with was surely she could put up with it for at least that long. True he wasn't in a similar position since his parents would probably start acting like real parents before they'd sign up for that whole exchange student thing. They complained enough about having to support him until he was legally adult so there was no way they'd willing take on another person into their house even if it was for a little over a week. Still he could vaguely imagine what it would be like to have someone from a different country his own age living in the same house for a week. From what he could tell the only real drag would be trying not to offend them by doing something his or her culture would consider immoral or dishonorable or something. In any case the only thing he could really do was remind his blonde friend that this would just be a temporary situation.

"Well, a lot of parents are doing it this year. It's part of this whole cultural exchange magilla. The exhibit, the dance..." Xander said as he began to explain to the Slayer the details of the whole event.

"I have the best costume for the dance!" Willow piped in apparently very excited about what she had managed to get.

"A complete stranger in my house for two weeks. I'm gonna be insane! A danger to myself and others within three days, I swear." said Buffy as she seemed determined to remain in her funk despite her friend's best efforts.

_Alright! One last effort to turn that frown upside down for this depressed Slayer._ Xander thought as he played his trump card.

"I think the exchange student program's cool." , Xander said and when he got the expected look of disbelief, "I do! It's a beautiful melding of two cultures."

"Have you ever done an exchange program?" Buffy asked with skepticism still in her voice.

"My dad tried to sell me to some Armenians once. Does that count?" Xander asked with mock seriousness.

Both Buffy and Willow shook their heads as they entered the museum that was working alongside the school with the cultural exchange program. Inside was not only a bulletin board with pictures of each exchange student but also a new exhibit to help students get their feet wet with the whole concept of other cultures. It was an exhibit on the country of Japan, specifically centering on the Revolution, the end of the Tokugawa regime and the early years of the Meiji government. He was about as familiar with the history of Japan as he was the history of the doorstop but he figured Buffy might get a kick out of the exhibit. After all it apparently had a section that displayed some of the weapons used during the Revolution and he knew that nothing brightened a Slayer's mood more then pretty weapons. Even he had a kind of interest in seeing them as he and Jessie had been big fans of those corny and badly voiced over kung fu and samurai flicks on late night TV. He doubted that he'd be interested in any of the other parts of the exhibit like the historical significance of this and the context of that. Still it beat sitting in a classroom and with the company of his pals it could be quite an enjoyable field trip.

However when they all went over to the Bulletin board to take a look at Buffy's exchange student they were dismayed to see that Queen C was there already. It kinda surprised Xander that the spoiled rich girl that both he and Willow hated since pre-school would even consider signing up for the student exchange program. After all she was bad enough to the people living in this country. Did she want to spread her snobbish attitude worldwide or something?

"Ooo! There's mine! Sven. Isn't he lunchable? Mine's definitely the best." Cordy squealed as she looked at the picture of some blonde guy that looked like he hadn't had a conscious thought in years.

Then again Queen C hadn't exactly been known to choose boyfriends for their intelligence. As long as they were handsome and wealthy she could care less if they could say something intelligent or not.

"What're you lookin' at?" Buffy asked as she tried to figure out what picture this 'Sven' guy was in.

"Pictures of our exchange students. Look. 100 Swedish, 100 gorgeous, 100 staying at my house! So, how's yours? Visually, I mean." Cordelia replied as she was thoroughly determined to have this one exchange student be assigned to her family while he was here.

"I don't know. Guy like?" Buffy said in a way that made it clear she hadn't really bothered to get too involved with this exchange program at least as far as doing her homework on who she was getting.

"By guy-like we are talking big, beefy, guy-like girl, right?" Xander asked deciding to have some fun with his blonde buddy's lack of knowledge.

"I was just told 'guy'." Buffy said unknowingly avoiding falling into his trap.

"You didn't look at him first? He could be dogly. You live on the edge." Cordelia said in disbelief as she strode off to join her Cordettes in another part of the museum.

For a moment Xander was tempted to go off on a dialogue of how he wasn't a big fan of the idea of some unknown guy living in Buffy's house for a week. After all while he still felt threatened by Deadboy's advancing in the 'be Buffy's boyfriend' race he knew he still had a chance while her fingers still lacked en expensive ring. As long as the two of them were still in the tentative dating phase there was still a chance he could win her heart and keep her from becoming a corpse humper. He was about to ask her something when he noticed her attention was focused on another student who was trying to covertly scrape off some paint from a wooden sword sheath.

"What's he doing?" Buffy asked with some confusion as she didn't understand why anyone would want to do what this guy was doing.

"Uh, that's Rodney Munson. He's God's gift to the bell curve." , Xander answered since aside from the name and general weirdness that this guy had he didn't know much else, "What he lacks in smarts he makes up in lack of smarts."

From there the museum tour guide who had been assigned to them asked them all to get together in one group so that he could show them around. Xander hadn't really seen him earlier with all the bustling but now that he got a good look something about the man was setting off alarm bells. He wore a tan suit, had black hair just shy of shoulder length and gave off the aura of a man who took his job just a little too seriously. Still he found it odd that a museum tour guide would be setting off his internal alarms when usually it took a vamp or Snyder to make him this uncomfortable. Pushing the feelings aside he tried to focus his attention on the surrounding exhibit rather than on the guide who was already well into his monologue about the Revolution. Looking at the various paintings, drawings and the very few pictures that hung about the room his 'weird-shit-o-meter' went up a notch as he began to feel a weird sense of familiarity with some of the images he looked at. One was a picture of two groups of samurai fighting each other in the middle of a town that was going up in flame. One side wore these green or bluish-green jackets while the others were blue and white ones with both sides wielding katanas or something similar. When he gazed at that picture in particular he could almost hear the faint sound of swords clashing and the screams of men dying.

"Xander?" asked a voice that made him nearly jump out of his skin before he turned and realized it was just Willow talking to him.

"Yeah?" he asked as he came out of the daze he had unconsciously slipped into and the weird feelings he had experienced faded away.

"You kinda zoned out for a second there." Willow replied with a little worry in her voice.

"Don't worry. I was just wondering what it was like back then when swords were the weapon of choice among the cool and the brave." Xander stated trying to reassure his friend that he was okay and that she had nothing to worry about.

"Perhaps I can help you a bit in that regard young man." Came a familiar voice from behind them.

Turning around the three members of the Scooby gang found that while their attention had been focused on the drawing the man who had been leading the tour had somehow snuck up on them. Instantly that niggling feeling that had been present the last time that Xander had looked at this guy returned. It was like a smoke alarm that you couldn't turn off, and the Zeppo just ignored it rather than try and figure it out. The man though seemed to take their silence as an invitation to carry through on his offer as he walked over to one of the display cases containing two Japanese swords. Looking at the small cue card that rested at the front of the case he saw that one was a katana and the other was called a wakizashi. The man then approached Xander but when the man's hand got a **little** too close to his waist the heart of the Scooby gang backed off on the defensive.

"Easy young man. I was merely attempting to tuck these beneath your belt so you could gain a better understanding of what it was like to walk around with a pair of swords on your hip during the Japanese Revolution." The man stated attempting to appear as non-threatening as possible.

It seemed a logical enough reason so Xander suppressed the uneasiness that had caused him to retreat a moment ago. However in pushing these feelings back they seemed to merge with the nagging feeling from earlier and he knew that some of his mental discomfort was showing on his face. Still he stood firm as the man placed both swords beneath his belt on his left hip and after making a few seemingly minor adjustments the guide took a few steps back. For a moment Xander merely stood there, trying to get used to the feel of the two swords at his waist but to his surprise there was an unusual feeling of familiarity in their weight. It was like when you slipped your foot into a shoe you've worn for years and have completely gotten used to or a bed that you have slept in all your life. This confused him as aside from his adventures with Buffy the closest that he had ever come to holding a sword was on Halloween and those swords were made out of plastic. Looking down at the two swords he reached with his right hand until it rested comfortably on the pommel of the katana. It was eerie, this feeling of familiarity, but beyond that he could think of nothing that could either describe the feeling within him nor deduce where it came from.

"Take the sword out of its sheath if you wish." the man offered with a small smile on his face, "Though do be careful where you swing it. The owner who loaned it to this exhibit kept it in excellent condition so it is still quite sharp."

Looking at him for a moment to see if he was serious then Xander did as the man said and as smoothly as possible pulled the katana out from its sheath. Once out he then gripped the weapon in both hands with his right hand next to the guard and the left hand just above the pommel. It felt like it had pretty good balance since neither the blade nor the handle seemed heavier than the other. However what had him two steps shy of wigging out was that the sensation he had felt when he had looked at that drawing of two sides fighting it out in Kyoto was intensifying. The feel of the handle, the way the light reflected off of the blade, seemed to remind him of something but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Just then his sense of hearing caught something cutting through the air and almost without thinking about it he turned, bent his knees a bit and brought the katana into a horizontal guard position just slightly above his head. With a ting that seemed kind of weird coming from two deadly pieces of metal clashing Xander found his sword blocking another katana held by a Japanese man with long black hair.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" , Buffy bellowed angrily at the man looking like she was two seconds from taking him down human or not, "You could've killed him!"

To this the mystery man only replaced the sword he held in its sheath located on his belt beneath his brown trench coat.

"Sorry young lady. Your friend here has the aura of a warrior about him and when I saw him hold the katana it almost seemed as though it belonged there." , the man stated while bowing at Buffy, "I merely thought to test him and I must say that he did quite adequate considering he hasn't had any official training."

"And what if he hadn't been able to block it in time?" Willow asked a little more respectfully but just as angrily than Buffy had.

"I would have stopped the blade myself before it pierced his skin." , the man replied with a confident grin, "A master is not a master unless they have complete control over their chosen weapon."

"Yeah well next time you want to test me buddy how about you make it a written one instead." Xander stated as he put the katana back in its sheath.

What no one but the man in charge of the exhibit and the man who had attacked him noticed was that Xander sheathed the sword in a way not done for many a year. The young Harris scraped one side of the blade up against the top of the sheath as if to wipe the blood off of it before he slid it smoothly into the sheath. Both men knew that in modern times like these swords were either decorations or used in non-lethal competitions where little if any blood got on them at all. Even those few Asian crime syndicates like the Yakuza who still used swords in their day to day affairs preferred guns and modern weaponry to the old ways. So to see the young resident of Sunnydale sheath the katana in such a manner pleased them. They kept their emotions well hidden though so none of the members of the Scooby gang saw anything that might cause them to think something was amiss.

"Perhaps young man but I find that some skills can't be taught or learned." , the Japanese man said as he turned to leave, "Some skills like swordsmanship can only come through actual combat and practice."

Seeing his mystery attacker walk away Xander felt that something odd had just taken place. Why was a man with a sharp sword allowed to walk around in a museum and why hadn't the security guards in the place moved to arrest him for attacking a student?

"You'll have to forgive Mr. Udo. He is the exhibit's historical consultant and unfortunately rather passionate about the authenticity of certain things." , the exhibit manager stated attempting to placate their suspicions about the sword-wielding man, "Still you should take it as something of a compliment that he considered you worth testing young man. Swordsmanship, especially those styles used during the Revolution in Japan, is something he specializes in."

"Still a wack job if you ask me." Buffy stated clearly not liking the fact that an insane sword wielding man had taken a swing at one of her friends.

"Perhaps so young lady, perhaps so." , the manager of the exhibit said before apparently spotting something going on elsewhere in the exhibit, "Now if you'll excuse me it seems that one of your less behaved classmates has decided to scrape off a piece of an exhibit to take home with him."

Before the Zeppo could ask the man what he wanted done with the katana and wakizashi he strode off to deal with Rodney Munson's acts of vandalism.

"Well that was weird in a 'I almost got killed' kind of way." , Xander said as he removed both swords from his hip and moved to put them back in their display case, "Still it was kinda cool that the guy thought I had potential with a katana."

"Yeah it was so cool that if you hadn't managed to get your sword up in time he woulda split your head in two." Buffy stated angrily while glaring in the direction that Mr. Udo went.

"Were you really worried that he might've hurt me Buff or are you just angry that I managed to block his attack before you could move a muscle?" Xander asked as he decided to enjoy the fact that he got one up on the 'Chosen One'.

"As if! You got lucky that's all!" , Buffy stated as she turned her potent glare on him, "Besides stopping swords with just your bare hands isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies. I was not going to risk going home with bloody hands and explaining why I decked some guy at the museum to my mother. She's mad enough at me for making a fuss over the student exchange thing as it is."

"Poor, poor Buffy! Scourge of the demonic by night but still afraid of facing Mommy's wrath!" , Xander said mockingly but he quickly clammed up when the glare she was using turned into 'The Look', "Hey! Let's go see what else this exhibit's got! I think I saw some spears that you might like Buff."

He breathed a sigh of relief when Buffy's attention shifted from him to the shiny weapons on display. It was one thing to have a laugh at a friend's expense or dangle a defeat over someone's head but when it was a woman and she gave you 'The Look' all men knew it was time to stop or face her wrath. Needless to say the Zeppo was not interested in finding out just how the Slayer would choose to get her payback for his words if he could avoid it. Besides which she had a point as far as Mr. Udo's attack went. It was lucky that he had heard the sword's blade cutting through the air in time to bring his katana up to block or he'd have wound up half the man he used to be. Now that he had time to think about it though he wondered how he had known which area of his body the attack was aimed at or the right position to place his sword in to guard against it. The entire encounter had only been a few seconds long and the man's swing had been very fast indeed. He hadn't even gotten a good look at the sword in Mr. Udo's hands before raising his own in a guarding position. So how could he have known what to do?

_It was probably just dumb luck just like Buffy said._ , Xander thought as he went to join his two girls, _What other explanation is there?_

Little did the young student realize that on a private security monitor in a dark room sat someone watching him with unusual interest for someone who had never seen Xander before today. Someone who knew of another explanation why a swordsman would attack him and one possibility as to how he was able to block the attack.

A Room on the Upper Floors of the Museum, One Hour Later 

"What did you think of our newest hopeful my Lord?" said the manager of the Revolution/Meiji Era exhibit or Hiroshi as all his friends called him.

The man he asked the question of was a finely manicured man wearing an expensive oriental style suit. With long brown hair tied in a ponytail and brown eyes that looked like they could cut your soul in two with just a look he made for an intimidating figure. However instead of looking at the man who had addressed him his eyes remained focused on the TV he sat in front of. On the screen a section of the building's security camera played over and over again. It wasn't more than a minute or so in length and while Hiroshi was fairly certain that his Lord had already watched the footage numerous times the wealthy looking man's attention did not waver from the images being shown. It was about five minutes before the man finally picked up the remote control and turned the TV off. When his brown eyes finally settled on Hiroshi the manager of the exhibit could tell that they might have finally found the one they had been searching for these past ten years.

"He definitely seems to possess more skill than the other potentials we have found since we began our search." , the Lord's smooth voice said coolly, "He blocked Udo's attack almost without thinking about it. When added to his reaction to the painting of the fires of Kyoto during the Revolution and I believe we may indeed have found our target."

Getting to his feet the Lord walked over to a small wooden box which when opened revealed a large number of expensive cigars. Taking one out he cut the end off and placed it in his mouth before lighting the opposite end with a gold plated lighter. He took a moment to take a deep puff from the cigar before he turned his attention back to Hiroshi.

"Still he will have to be tested like all the others regardless." , the Lord said as a sinister grin emerged on his face, "However I have a more original one in mind than the usual 'bandits' approach we have used in the past."

"Oh? If I may, my lord, what is this new scenario you have devised?" Hiroshi asked with interest as it was an anomaly for his Lord to alter the long used 'bandits' scenario they had used in the past to test potentials.

"In the top most dresser drawer you will find a file folder containing the details. Most of the necessary resources are already in place and ready to be activated." , the Lord replied after taking another puff from his cigar, "All that is required is choosing a group of competent agents from my army and determining the proper time to implement the scenario."

Doing as he was bidden he went over to the dresser in question and withdrew the blue file folder from the top most drawer. It was fairly thin but he could tell from the edges of the white paper that poked out from the edges that each page was filled as much as it could be without being too messy. Opening the folder up he began to read the scenario that was detailed on the page and with each new page he read he began to see more and more of what his Lord had in mind. He felt a spring of excitement and anticipation well up within his body as he knew that if his Lord had taken the time to devise this particular scenario for this potential target then he must believe that their mission would end with this young man. If that were so then he would have to take extra care in choosing the right men for the test as well as the right location. It would take about half a week to have everything ready then it would simply be a matter of reviewing the reconnaissance reports on Mr. Harris to determine when best to begin the scenario. Looking at the scenario laid out by his Lord though he believed that it would be most effective if it took place as the sun was setting. After all it was only then that the skies would turn the proper shade of red and cast the necessary shadows upon the ground.

"An excellent scenario my Lord. This will surely have the desired effect on Mr. Harris if he is indeed the one you seek." Hiroshi said as he closed the folder and tucked it beneath his arm.

"Oh I think that very shortly we shall see our old enemy once again Hiroshi." , the Lord stated with some certainty as he absentmindedly placed a hand on his chest, "It is only a question of how swiftly he will fully emerge both in memory and in body."

"As you say my Lord." Hiroshi said obediently as his suspicions were confirmed.

With that Hiroshi left to begin preparations to put his Lord's test scenario into action. As he walked down the Hallways within the museum he could not help but try to picture young Mr. Harris with the features of his Lord's ancient adversary. It was difficult at first as Mr. Harris wasn't Japanese but once the discrepancy of race was out of the way he began to see how his Lord might be optimistic about the outcome of the test. The way the hair would have framed the boy's face and the way he held the katana before when Udo had attacked him made the idea less of a possibility and more of a certainty. He could definitely see some resemblance between the two but the differences that existed made it difficult to imagine things properly. Harris' height and build were certainly different but as he had learned since he began his new life with his Lord reincarnations were tricky things. There was literally no rhyme or reason to how a person would be reborn into this world. Sometimes they would be reborn in a form almost identical to the one they had before but in other cases they would wind up being the opposite gender or a power house when in their last life they had been weak pathetic nothings. He most certainly didn't look anything like he had when he had served his Lord in a previous life but after some consideration he had decided to consider it an improvement.

Others among the elite of his Lord's warriors from their previous lives weren't so fortunate with some being downright pissed at the cards they had been dealt as far as size and appearance were concerned. He knew for a fact that the woman who was once Yumi was jealous of the fact that not only had Katamari been reincarnated as a woman but apparently had been blessed with some real … assets as far as looks went. Not that the reincarnated Yumi was ugly but in this life it appeared she had some real competition for his Lord's affections. Now whenever they were in the same room together they spent the entire time trying to one up each other in terms of usefulness to their Lord and in making romantic overtures to him. A waste of time as far as Hiroshi was concerned as he knew from previous experience that his Lord did not particularly care for that side of life. All that warranted his attention now was power and influence with a little bit of violence thrown in for good measure. With this test though it would be pure business because if Alexander Harris were indeed the one they sought then he would be offered the same choice as the others.

Join or die.

Sunnydale High School, Library, Lunch Hour 

"So, can I go?" Buffy asked as she threw a few punches into the training pad that Giles was holding up in front of her.

"I think not." Giles replied with some exertion as another of Buffy's blows landed.

It had been like that since the training had started and would probably continue until the bell rang for afternoon classes. Just about everyone in the school was buzzing about the costume dance that was slated to happen at the end of the student exchange week. Not only was it a nice rehearsal for Halloween at the end of the month but it was also an excuse for some brain dead jocks to try to take advantage of the female exchange students. It was a typical case of 'they don't know the customs over here' and 'they are so young and naïve' ending of course with 'I will probably never see her again so no need to worry about commitment'. For Buffy though it was just a chance for her to be little miss normal and forget about the things that go bump in the night. However Giles was of the opinion that as the Slayer her duty to the side of good took priority and that the entire idea of having a stranger in her house for a week was intolerable which led to this argument.

"How come?" Buffy asked with a pout as she took a temporary break from pummeling the practice pad.

"Because you are the Chosen One." Giles replied while trying to hide the relief he felt at the temporary reprieve from the pounding he had taken even with the pad to cushion the blows.

"Mm. Just this once I'd like to be the Overlooked One." Buffy growled in frustration as this was probably one of the times being a super hero sucked.

"Well, I'm... afraid that is not..." Giles stated carefully since he knew that an upset Slayer was a dangerous thing especially when you provide yourself as a nice target.

Xander couldn't help but wince in sympathy as Buffy landed four hard hitting blows that looked like they were going to leave impressive bruises later on. It was not wise to anger the Buffy for the Buffy is powerful and capable of sending many a jock to the school nurse if they get too touchy feely. Unfortunately it was also in the nature of the Buffy to overlook a perfectly respectable young man for a two hundred or more year old corpse with issues. While he was no longer entertaining the possibility of the two of them getting together he still didn't think it was right for her to get involved with something she was supposed to be killing. It was like an angel falling for a devil, the two just didn't mix no matter how romantic a tale you spun to convince yourself it would work out. If the novelty of the pairing didn't wear itself out then one species or the other would kill the couple rather than let them be happy. Like the Capulets and the Montagues neither party would stand to see a member of one side get together with a member of another and they might not even bother trying to knock some sense into the pair before killing them. However no matter what inclinations he might have towards turning Sir Broods-a-lot into a pile of ashes he wouldn't. Buffy would never forgive him if he did which meant until Captain Forehead did something to enlighten Buffy to his true nature he could only watch.

"Your secret identity is going be difficult enough to maintain while this exchange student is living with you." Giles stated while bracing himself more against his charge's blows.

"Nooot... **with** her. In the same house as her." , he quickly pointed out as he did **not** like the image G-Man's sentence induced as he strode over to the library counter, "Am I the only one who's objective enough to make that distinction?"

"So! I think going to the dance like a normal person would be the best way to keep that secret. Giles, come on, budge! No one likes a non-budger." Buffy said as she continued to make her case not only with her words but also with her punches and kicks.

Buffy made a valid point since keeping your cover, in this case a high school student, valid was just as important as keeping your true self a secret from becoming known. In every spy movie he had ever seen where undercover work was needed no spy ever did a half-assed job of pretending to be just what their cover said they were. They either did it flawlessly or they wound up dead although in James Bond's case it meant he had to blow the building he was in up and escape using the most expensive and destructive vehicle he could find. In Buffy's case it meant that she **had** to go to the costume dance or people might get suspicious. Still G-Man had at least one thing in his favor and that was the fact that students attending the dance were expected to bring their exchange students with them. While not necessarily a **date** per say he knew that Buffy would probably have to stick pretty close to the foreign student to make sure he didn't make a fool of himself. Almost made him wish that Buffy's mom had gotten a girl instead because at least the situation wouldn't have been a complete waste. Especially if it was one of those foreign models or tennis players since both by definition had to stay fit and were almost always knockouts. Not that he would be able to say more than two words to them since they would know little if any English knowing his luck.

"FINE!" Giles said as he finally conceded to her demands although it was probably more due to his aching arms than his inability to continue arguing with her.

"Yay! I win." Buffy said with a smile as she won the argument with physical strength and sound reasons.

"Y-yes, I'll just go introduce my shoulder to an ice pack." Giles stated as he lowered the pad to the ground with an obviously tender arm.

"So, I guess we're dance-bound. Cool. I think I can get my mom's car, so I'm wheel man." Xander said as he moved away from the library counter to join Buffy in leaving the library.

"I thought you were taking Willow?" Buffy asked with some confusion.

"Well, yeah, I'm gonna take Willow, but I'm not gonna **take** Willow. In the sense of 'take me'. See, with you we're three and everybody's safe. Without you, we're two." Xander replied as he tried in vane not to sound weird.

"Ah, and we enter dateville. Romance, flowers..." Buffy said with a smile as she clued into what was making her friend so uncomfortable.

"Lips." Xander stated as he put in his own two cents with more than a little unease at thinking of his since-pre-school best friend.

"Oh, come on. In all the years you've know Willow, you've never thought about her lips?" Buffy asked with an undecipherable twinkle in her eye.

"Buffy, I love Willow." , Xander replied honestly, "And she's my best friend. Which makes her not the kind of girl who I think about her lips that much."

This seemed to disappoint Buffy for some reason and he had an uneasy feeling the reason was right behind him. Still he figured it was best to get it all out rather than have his previous statements be misinterpreted.

"She's the kind of girl that... I'm best friends with." He said summing up his feelings for Willow as best he could.

"Hey guys." Came the voice of the subject of his and Buffy's discussion and the Zeppo knew that his best bud had overheard everything.

"Willow!" , Xander said as he immediately walked over to her to make up for anything he might have said to offend her, "Hi! We were just talkin' about happy things."

Seeing that he was not winning the battle he draped an arm around both of his friends who were girls and led them to a free table in the student lounge.

"Like the three of us going to the dance together. See?" , he asked rhetorically as he had them all sit down as one in the three chairs set around the table, "Happy!"

Unfortunately from the frown on his bestest bud's face it was clear that he might as well have been quoting from the dictionary for all the good it was doing to lift her mood. He knew that Willow had issues about her looks and how appealing she was to guys so hearing her only guy friend talk as though she wasn't worthy of the title of 'girlfriend' must have hurt. Which meant that he would have to endure at least a week of 'Xander? Who's Xander?' treatment from her.

Xander was about to say something when an odd whistle reached his ears and almost as though his body had a mind of its own he leapt up from his chair, turned towards the source of the whistle, his right hand reaching for something on his waist. However there was nothing resting by his waist for him to grab nor was there anything threatening standing where the whistle had come from. It was only when these facts became apparent that his conscious mind caught up with his body and he was left bewildered at the reaction he had to something as innocent as a whistle. It could easily have been some guy wolf whistling a pretty young woman or someone just trying to get a friend's attention. However for some inexplicable reason he had felt threatened by that whistle and not in the social way but rather in the 'someone is going to try to kill me' way. It was the same sort of reaction he had when he heard the familiar growl of a vampire about to attack or a single unfamiliar sound in a quiet room with little or no light. While that reaction to vamps or unfamiliar sounds might be justified given what went on in Sunnydale it is quite different with something as innocent as a whistle. If he had turned and discovered that it had come from a vamp or a demon then that would have been okay but since the source had apparently vanished he instead looked like a nutcase who was hearing things.

"Xander? What's wrong?" Willow asked both confused and concerned by her longtime friend's actions.

"Didn't you guys hear that odd whistle?" he asked trying to sound as though he was justified in jumping up from his seat like he did.

"Kinda but why did you act like Marty McFly being called a chicken?" Buffy asked as she made a pass of the room with her eyes to see if there was anything she could detect to explain her friend's actions.

"Well … it kind of sounded like the whistle soldiers in war movies use to tell their sniper to take out a target." Xander replied knowing before he completed his sentence that he was only increasing his embarrassment and humiliation rather than decreasing either.

Both Buffy and Willow just looked at him as though hoping he would say something else, something a little more believable, so that they wouldn't have to check him into the psychiatric ward of the local hospital. When nothing came out they both looked at one another and shook their heads in disappointment before Willow decided to save her friend from saying anything else bizarre.

"Xander I think it's time you stop mixing chocolate syrup with pizza and eating it before you go to bed." , Willow stated in a tone deliberately calibrated not to offend the person listening, "Besides being just plain 'eewww' it's obviously messing with your head. After all even if this is Sunnydale why would a sniper be out to get you?"

Realizing that his friend was right he decided to drop the subject right then and there. After all being cautious in Sunnydale might be prudent but acting all paranoid would just get you thrown in a padded room one way or another. Moving on to a more safe topic like the upcoming exchange student costume party he did his best to forget what happened and focus on more pleasant thoughts. However despite his best efforts there remained an undercurrent of unease in the back of his mind and at least twice more he had the inexplicable urge to reach for something that was supposed to be located at his left hip but wasn't there at all.

All in all it was very confusing as well as irritating since he couldn't for the life of him determine the reason why.

Mid-Evening, Sunnydale Bus Station 

"So who is it exactly that we're looking for?" Willow asked as the collective members of the Scooby gang walked around the bus station parking lot.

"The exchange student mom got is from somewhere in Japan." , Buffy replied almost distractedly as she kept an eye out for the student and any demons that might be around, "I think his name is Sanjo Ken'ichi."

"You think?" Xander put in with some disbelief that his bud and personal hero didn't even know the name of the person she was picking up here.

"Hey I told you I wasn't exactly crazy about this whole exchange student thing to begin with!" , Buffy replied with a bit of anger at her friend not cutting her some slack, "Besides mom only just told me his name when I was running out the door to meet you guys so I wasn't sure if I heard her right. Besides what kind of Japanese name is Sanjo?"

"Actually Buffy in Japan they generally say their family name first and their given name second." , Willow stated pointing out the mistake her friend had made, "So his first name is actually Ken'ichi."

"Still a weird name." Buffy said with some annoyance at having her slip up pointed out to her.

"And Buffy isn't?" came a sarcastic male voice from the right side of the parking lot.

Looking in that direction they discovered a Japanese teenager who despite being relatively well off looking was wearing more formal and not quite teenager loud clothing that they had expected. Granted none of them had ever really seen what the 'in' fashion was over in Japan for teenagers but most of them had assumed it was similar to their own. Thus they had figured the exchange student would be wearing jeans, some kind of sports shirt as well as name brand sneakers like Nike or Adidas. Instead he was wearing your typical short-sleeved dress shirt with tan slacks and surprisingly enough sandal covered socks. It was the sandals and the socks that confused them the most as they had seen people with socks and others with sandals but never both on at the same time. After all the purpose of socks is to both keep your feet warm and offer some protection from the environment. Sandals on the other hand are meant for warm weather and people who don't want the annoyance of getting sand in their shoes. Putting the two of them together was like wearing a fur coat in the middle of summer which if anyone did that most people would consider them odd at the very least and nuts at most. He had a sack thrown over his shoulder along with something else that caught Xander's eye almost immediately.

It was a bokken, a wooden sword used by kendo practitioners.

"Hey! It's not like I had a choice in what my parents named me when I was born!" Buffy exclaimed at the slight she had just been given.

"Still a stupid name." , Ken'ichi stated choosing to ignore her dislike of his comment about her name, "Look I just had a long bus ride and a longer flight over here so can you just take me to where ever I'm staying while I'm here? I'd like to get some sleep."

This only fired Buffy up more and it didn't take the Zeppo or the Wicca very long to realize that if this went much further the Slayer may well lose her self control and pound this kid into oblivion. One of them would have to change the direction of the conversation and unfortunately from the resolve look on Willow's face he had been elected.

"So Ken' you any good with that big stick you have there?" Xander asked indicating with his right hand the booken that was sticking out of the sack on the teen's shoulder.

"It's called a bokken gaijin and I'll have you know I'm one of the best students in my class back home." Ken'ichi said with equal parts annoyance at the shortening of his name and pride at stating his skill and rank to someone who wasn't even a novice compared to him.

"So you can swing a wooden sword around! I can use a real one that could cut your **bokken** down to size in no time!" Buffy said snobbily as she tried to get one up on the exchange student who she had decided right then and there she didn't like.

Xander almost wince at one possible way of interpreting that last statement from her and hoped that Ken' would continue to ignore her rather than take offense at the statement. He was by no means an expert on Japanese customs or morality but he had seen enough samurai movies to know that an insult like that could lead to decapitation for the insulter quite easily. True it would probably not be that bad if Ken'ichi decided to make something of it but it could turn out to be a disaster if Buffy continued to try and outdo him. It would go from one insult to be worse insult and then a slap to the face to a slash with that bokken. He just hoped that Buffy would reign in her Slayer strength if she decided to get medieval on her exchange student because he doubt it would help international relations to have the mangled corpse of an exchange student on the news.

"Like I would ever fight someone shorter than me!" , Ken'ichi said with a glare as this American girl was starting to get on his nerves, "Besides which I would shame my sensei greatly to use his teachings for anything other than self defense or the defense of others."

"Let's just get back to my place." , Buffy said as she turned around and began to stomp back to her house, "Hopefully you'll be less of an ass after a good night's sleep."

"Feh, whatever." Ken'ichi stated as he followed her leaving both Willow and Xander wondering if either the exchange student or Slayer would survive the week.

Xander's Room, Harris Household, Sunnydale, California 

He and Willow had seen both Ken'ichi and Buffy as far as the Summers' front porch but then had decided that they had been get back home for some sleep themselves. Tomorrow was another school day and given the look on Buffy's face they figured she'd probably be so pissed when she went out on patrol that she wouldn't need any help dusting vamps. In fact it would probably be good in the long run if she worked out her anger on the undead rather than let it fester too long and be unleashed on Ken' at the wrong time. In any case both he and Willow had decided that with the Slayer in such a mood she wouldn't need their help with patrol. True it would be amusing to see her pummel vamps into a fine powder but he figured it would get boring eventually. After all she took down most newbie vamps with ease when she was in a good mood so if she went after them in a bad mood the smart ones would stay in their coffins. Therefore he hopped into bed for a good night's sleep without any guilt as far as neglecting his nightly patrol routine with the gang. Unfortunately a good night's rest was the last thing that he would get as his mind was blurred with images and voices that sent an uneasy sensation through his soul.

Images of a primitive pre-electricity village filled his mind's eye with dirt roads replacing the paved ones some corner of his mind told him should have been there. All about him the sounds of clashing steel mixed with the death cries of men. Some sounds were closer, as though he needed only enter a building or go around a corner to find the source, while others were barely perceivable to his senses. A bitter taste was in his mouth and he could not for the life of him discern what it was nor how it had gotten there but that line of thinking was quickly shoved to the side as he sensed danger approaching rapidly from behind. As if they had a mind of their own his hands sprung into action unsheathing a katana he had not known rested at his left hip before turning and placing the blade in a blocking position. Metal clashed against metal and Xander could feel the strength of his attacker in more ways than one but for some reason he was unafraid. He learned the reason for this lack of fear a few moments later when in a move he was only barely able to perceive his arms pushed the attacker's sword up and back before **it** happened. With only a flash of reflected light to hint at what happened the attack seemed to be ripped apart into three separate pieces with two flying off to the right while the last one slid to the left. It was a sight of gore and blood that almost caused Xander to toss his cookies but as he was apparently no longer in control of his body he could only watch.

For what seemed like hours he watched helplessly as his body slunk around the various streets and alleyways of the mysterious village he was in and each time he was attacked by some shadow covered individual he was treated to a ruthless display of swordsmanship. Each time it happened he emerged the victor and his opponent almost always died with only one or two successfully fleeing into the darkness from whence they came. It was a sight that shook him to the very core of his soul for why he was no stranger to the blood and grime of killing it was usually demons or vamps falling dead to the ground. Each time one of them died at his hands he could console himself by thinking of the lives he had saved or by remembering that the demon was a soulless monster and a killing machine. He had no such luck with these images for while their faces and for the most part their clothes were unclear to him he could see enough to know that they were human. Nowhere was the simple 'poof' of a vampire turning to dust or a demon's blood being anything other than red in color. Here there was no mistaking what he had done or whose life he had taken in all its realistic horror. This was no movie or TV show or even video game he was experiencing here and it was scaring him more than anything he had ever gone through in his entire life. Given who his parents were and where he lived that said quite a bit.

With a final sword slash on yet another adversary Xander was mentally surprised when all the sounds that had become the theme song of the carnage he had been a part of up until then stopped. All was quiet and with it came an eerie feeling that almost had him wishing for the sounds of slaughter and battle. Then, as if the fearful atmosphere needed any more help, all the light in the other areas of the village went out one after another. In the end the only area still blessed with light was the area in the immediate vicinity of his location. It extended no more than twenty or so feet in any direction around his person and each time he moved the light moved with him. One could almost say that he himself was the source of the light. However while his body seemed to be perfectly calm Xander himself was freaking out more than if he had been dropped into a nest of vampires with only a box of tooth picks to use as stakes. While consciously his mind was too filled with fear to really think clearly his subconscious was another matter and it knew the signs that could be seen around him all to well. As any true watcher of horror movies could tell you it is when all is quiet and the light is at its weakest that the true horrors come out. They draw strength from the darkness and use it so that their prey has little or no warning of its approach until it is too late.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it he began to hear the sound of footsteps coming towards him at a steady professional pace. He tried to figure out which direction the footsteps were coming from but even with his body co-operating by adjusting its position every few moments the sound seemed to come from everywhere. He felt his body grasp the katana at his left hip but not draw it from its sheath indicating that it would wait for this unknown person to show themselves before doing anything. With no way to determine the direction it was coming from Xander chose instead to focus on the volume of the footsteps and use how loud or how soft the sound was to judge distance. This was imprecise at best since if the one approaching knew what he/she/it was doing it could manipulate how much sound their footsteps made to make it sound as though they were much farther away then they actually were.

Still it was better than nothing.

As the sound reached a volume where both he and his body seemed to agree that the person or entity making it would be visible even in the darkness they searched through she shadows all around them for a sign of movement or form. It was on their third pass of the street to their right that they finally spotted a form emerging from the darkness. At first it was only a vaguely human-like shape but eventually he could make out someone roughly his own height and build coming towards him wearing an outfit straight out of an old samurai flick. From the hakama to the haori before finally ending with the black armguards tied securely to each arm. However just before the light would have touched the figure to make out more personal details the man stopped and simply stood there waiting for something. Waiting for Xander to say something? Waiting for Xander to do something? Nothing really was clear about what this person's intentions were or what would happen so both Xander and his body remained ready for anything. It was then that something odd happened to put him even more on edge than he had been beforehand. Without any physical movement to indicate that he was willingly doing it the unknown man's eyes began to glow bright amber. Not the entire eye but just the iris itself but that did little to detract from the intimidating feeling they gave off.

"It's better that I do not know why they should die. Doing so would disrupt my concentration." Said the figure in a voice that struck him as both hauntingly familiar but at the same time that of a stranger.

Xander shuddered at the coldness of the voice, the sheer lack of feeling in saying that knowing the specifics of his victims was less important than maintaining his concentration.

"Drop your sword." Spoke the man, no a young teenager, with equal coldness as he unsheathed a katana from his left hip.

To this both he and his disobedient body seemed to agree that dropping his sword would be a mistake that would cost him his life. He knew not who this teenage boy was but it was clear from the look in his amber eyes and the sheer lack of emotion in his voice that the unknown warrior would kill whether he was armed or unarmed. It mattered not to this person. All that mattered was his own agenda and his own mission no matter what horrible acts he had to commit to succeed. He was a killer, worse than vampires, human in flesh and bone and soul with no remorse for those cut open with his sword. If he was meant to die here he would face death with eyes open and spit in its face with his last breath. As if in agreement with him his body raised his sword into a combat stance that was neither offensive in nature nor defensive but could be shifted into either in a heartbeat. The teenager who had ordered him to drop his sword seemed to accept that the Zeppo wished to do this the hard way. Then, in the blink of an eye, their swords clashed together but even though the light that surrounded Xander should have illuminated the stranger the young man remained enshrouded in shadow.

Save for the amber eyes that bored holes into his soul still with their coldness.

Again and again their words met with a ting of deadly steel with the roles of attacker and defender switching back and forth every few seconds. Eventually though they both pushed off each other's swords and leapt back to gain some breathing space and rethink their strategy. While the thoughts of the stranger were not known Xander's own thoughts were tactlessly honest in their appraisal of the situation. Whoever this young man was he was unbelievably fast and skilled. So much so that it shocked him each and every time he managed to block one of his enemy's attacks regardless of the fact that his own body seemed to be equally swift and skilled. All that he knew was that he had to at least try to put an end to this soon or eventually he would make a mistake and pay for it. So as one did both he and his enemy renew the battle with both looking to strike the killing blow right out of the gates. Thus in a slow motion scene straight out of 'The Matrix' time seemed to slow to a crawl as they drew closer and closer to one another. Before long it seemed to take an entire minute for one of them to take a single step or to adjust the path their katana would take.

Xander's body had the katana aimed so that it would strike the enemy in the stomach with the intention possibly of disemboweling him. His enemy on the other hand seemed to be going for Xander's throat with the intention of running his blade cleanly through from Adam's apple to spinal cord. Not wishing to die Xander willed his body to dodge the tip of the sword coming towards him as fast as possible but the world still seemed to be locked in the 'bullet time' pace it had so recently entered. However his body did move but the Zeppo could tell that his body would not be able to move completely clear of the blade in time. Even while moving down and to the right his body was moving too slowly to evade the blade and as it invaded his personal space he felt his cheek come alive with pain. Brief though it was it still felt as though it was being done using a blade fresh from the forge and it was with this pain that he left the realm of dreams and returned to the dirty room that he had fallen asleep in.

Despite the fact that he was in a place where he should have felt relatively safe he could still feel the emotions running through him that he had been experiencing in the dream. Fear, anxiety, determination, revulsion, horror and anger all thrummed through him still and at such a potent level that he doubted the likelihood of them disappearing anytime soon. What shocked him the most though was that the searing pain of a red hot blade cutting through his cheek was still present and so realistic that he found himself reaching up with his right hand to touch the area that should have been cut. Rubbing his cheek he expected the pain to intensify as it normally did when one put pressure of any kind on a wound. However no matter what part of his cheek he rubbed he could find no evidence of a wound and the pain remained at the same level it had been since waking from the dream. To this unusual and scary occurrence Xander had just one thing to say before he went to find something to occupy his time before school.

"What the freakin' **HELL** was **that**!"

Sunnydale High School, Lunch Hour, Courtyard 

"I worked really hard on my costume. It's pretty cool." Willow said to him as they both walked along the main pathway of the courtyard.

"Okay, but what about me? I've gotta think." Xander said as he put on his 'thinker' face but added a slightly mocking touch to it that hinted he wasn't actually doing it.

"Well, it's a celebration of cultures. There are lots of dress-up alternatives." Willow said trying most certainly to be helpful to her longtime friend.

"And a corresponding equal number of mocking alternatives. All aimed at me." Xander pointed out to his best friend for he was sure that no matter what he chose the bully league of Sunnydale High School would still find a way to make fun of his choice.

"Bavarians are cool." Willow suggested and waited to see if her friend would approve.

"Okay, no shirts with ruffles, no hats with feathers and definitely no lederhosen. They make my calves look fat." Xander said with a little bit of humor as he listed the various costume components he wouldn't be wearing anytime soon.

"Why are you suddenly so worried about looking like an idiot?" , Willow asked before rewinding what she said and looking it over before saying, "That came out wrong."

Xander gave her a smile to show that he wasn't offended at her words because he knew all too well that he had been guilty of saying similar things in the past. However joking about costume ideas was a useful cover for him to keep his 'best-friend-since-pre-school' from looking past the emotions on his face. It had been a little over seven hours since he had been jolted awake from the nightmare of swords and death and despite some effort on his part to go back to sleep the images kept him awake until it was time for school. Needless to say he grabbed a can of pepsi or two to give him the sugar energy he'd need to stay alert in class and not get picked on by the teacher or his classmates. So far no one suspected that this wasn't just another day for him and he intended to keep it that way until he could shake the images that seemed to be burned into his mind. Since waking up from it he had only given the nightmare a cursory examination before deciding that he'd do what the rest of Sunnydale did when they experienced something weird. Repress like crazy until it just went away or until the 'how' and the 'why' came up and smacked him in the face. So far it had been only partially effective as he was still able to function but occasionally got distracted when he saw something similar in either shape or color to what he saw in dreamland. Most times he was able to shake it off immediately but other times Willow caught him staring and he had to make some kind of lame excuse to cover for his daydreaming. After a particularly nasty one before the lunch bell rang he made a personal vow to block the images out of his mind no matter what.

As he looked across the courtyard to the archway leading to the parking lot though he had a feeling that someone up in another plane of existence was determined to make sure he'd **never** forget the nightmare **ever**. There walking side by side was Buffy and her exchange student from Japan Ken'ichi with both of them apparently determined to out perform the other in terms of insults or cultural superiority. Obviously the Slayer missed the whole point of the student exchange program. From the way Willow had explained it the student body was supposed to use this as an opportunity to experience other cultures and get an idea of how things were done in other countries. From the look on the Slayer's face the only thing she was learning how to do was restrain her fist from connecting with Ken'ichi's jaw. Deciding that he and Willow had better get over there before Buffy unintentionally added blood to the list of things that reminded him of his nightmare. As they moved closer and closer to the bickering two they began to pick up snippets of their verbal sparring and it got him wondering if they had started arguing as soon as they sat down at the breakfast table.

"I bet this is the first time you've even set fool on school grounds much less attended any classes!" Buffy declared never letting her glaring eyes leave his equally miffed ones.

"Of course I go to school you baka bottle blonde! It's kind of a prerequisite for the student exchange program!" , Ken'ichi stated superiorly as he found a flaw in her statement, "In fact only the top students in my **entire** school were considered when it came time to decide who to send over to America!"

"Oh please! The only reason they probably sent you was to get a break from your annoying superiority complex and pathetic smart ass attitude!" , Buffy said snobbishly as she exuded complete confidence in her theory, "In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if they transferred you here permanently!"

"Not a chance! Even for them sticking me here for the next two years with you would be considered inhumane by any justice system on the planet!" , Ken'ichi bellowed before he decided to get the last shot in, "Besides if anyone's pathetic it's you Ms. Height-Impaired-Bottle-Blonde-Flat-Chested-Ugly-Witch! Now I have better things to do than waste my time with this mismatched battle of wits! See you later Ugly!"

With that the Japanese exchange student stalked away implying with every step that he had completely dominated Buffy in that battle of insults. Unfortunately that only got the Slayer even more steamed because as she was always the first the make with the wise cracks and quips with the vamps she saw herself as she Queen of Quips, the Countess of Come-backs and the Oracle of One-liners. To not only be losing the battle at that point but to also have her enemy just stalk off like that had been the ultimate insult. Xander could tell just by the look on the blonde's face that if it wasn't war between her and Ken'ichi before it sure as hell was now.

"Hey Wills? How about you try and keep Mount Buffy from erupting while I go see if I can make our guest from the land of the rising sun a bit more friendly?" , Xander whispered to her covertly without letting on to anyone else what he was doing, "Not that I like the guy but if things keep heating up like this she'll either kill him by the end of the week or wind up making out with him in the utility closet."

"Xander! She's in love with Angel you know!" , Willow replied before considering his earlier suggesting, "Still you have a point about stopping things before they get any worse. Okay, you go off and talk some sense into Ken'ichi while I try and get Buffy to cool off."

With that he walked off in the direction he had seen Ken'ichi go and hoped that the wake in the student mass that he had made with his foul temper hadn't disappeared or he might never find the young Japanese man. Fortunately the young man had apparently a fierce enough look on his face that anyone who took notice of it immediately moved to get out of his way. While the trail did thin out in parts where students didn't normally travel it was hard to pick out where he went from the last confirmed spot but eventually his chase led him to the bleachers beside the football field. The teenager looked like he was trying to get a handle on his emotions but looked like it would take him the rest of the day to reach a state of calm necessary to have a civil conversation. Unfortunately with classes due to begin in less than an hour and Buffy expected to act like a guide and helpful aide for the exchange student from Japan the guy would need to calm down a lot quicker.

_So shall I make with the funnies or just try and bribe him into behaving for the remainder of his stay?_ , Xander thought to himself as he began to climb the bleachers towards his target, _Well seeing as how cash isn't an option and I have no sushi on hand I guess making with the funnies will have to do for now._

He got to within eight feet of Ken'ichi before the dark haired teen noticed him and gave him a look that to anyone else would have sent people looking for someplace else to be. Xander however never claimed to be smart or even capable of doing the smart thing and given that he, an ordinary guy, had chosen to fight demons and vampires most would indeed question his intelligence if not his sanity. So he just continued uninterrupted on his way and when he finally stood next to Ken'ichi he sat down next to him and waited for the Japanese teen to say something.

"Are you looking to get struck on the back of the head with my bokken gaijin?" , Ken'ichi asked as though his bokken was there with him and not in the Summers' guest room, "I'm not in the mood to deal with your crude attempts at humor or anything involving that bleached bimbo you call a friend!"

"Hey! I happen to think that my humor is quite refined compared to some of the stuff those helmet wearing cave men out there on the field think is funny!" , Xander said with mock seriousness as he glanced at the high school football team practicing, "As for Buffy I think that you're being a little hasty in judging her. She's really not all that bad despite her fascination with leather wearing older men and making me look bad."

This seemed to throw the Japanese teen off his guard a bit as he obviously hadn't been expecting the Zeppo to saying anything bad about his friend. He probably figured that given the way that the blonde slayer acted towards him that anyone who was her friend would be timid and helpless like a sheep. Obviously Buffy's behavior was straying dangerously close to Cordelia's for anyone to make that kind of assumption because he knew for a fact that neither he nor Willow acted anything like Harmony Kendall. Personally he wondered if the stories were true that blondes were less intelligent than say redheads or brown haired people. True some might say that by implying that all blondes were somewhat dimwitted he'd be including Buffy in that but he was not entirely convinced that the Slayer was a natural blonde to begin with. Mind you he'd never touched on the subject when they'd talked and he sure as hell didn't imitate deadboy and watch her through her bedroom window but the variety of blonde coloring she showed up to school in since he met her gave him a pretty big hint. In any case he figured he'd better press his advantage with Ken'ichi before he returned to thinking that Buffy acted bitchy all the time rather than just towards him.

"Look you guys just got off on the wrong foot at the bus station that's all." , Xander said before making possibly the worst move he could, "Come to think of it you were the one that started acting like an ass before she did so it's partially your fault."

This of course undid about all of the progress Xander had made towards getting Ken'ichi to reconsider his opinion of Buffy and made him less willing to listen to the 'stupid gaijin'.

"Me? She said my name was **strange** when her own name is **Buffy**!" , Ken'ichi said as though he had just been insulted, "At least my name means something! In Japan Ken'ichi means 'strong one'! What the hell does 'Buffy' mean anyway!"

"Look! I know she probably made a mistake making fun of your name but did you ever think that to us Americans Ken'ichi sounds a little weird too?" , Xander said as he hastily tried to regain the ground he had lost in this conversation, "Besides she didn't even know you were listening when she said it so I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you. Besides you had to have known that there'd be a few misunderstandings and screw ups in dealing with another culture when you signed up for this right?"

"I didn't sign up for this! I was telling Miss Bottle Blonde the truth when I said that my school selected only the brightest for the exchange program." , Kenichi replied with increased anger and annoyance, "I didn't even want to come but my parents didn't want to offend the faculty of the school by refusing something that was seen as an honor. So here I am far away from where I want to be and being insulted by strangers who I have to tolerate for the next two weeks before I can go home!"

Now it was Xander that was knocked off balance as the exchange student revealed something he and he was willing to be the rest of the gang hadn't even considered at all since they had met him. They had all assumed that the student exchange program was something that you willingly signed up for like basketball team tryouts or a chance to audition for a role in the school play. They had never considered the possibility that he had been more or less forced to play along with the idea by both his parents and his teachers because of some sense of honor. True if the school and his parents (assuming they had acted like parents should from the beginning) told him that he had an obligation to them to go to some alien country for two weeks he'd tell them to go to hell. Freedom of choice was one of the greatest things about living in the United States and there was no way he would let anyone ship him off to a foreign country just to make a good impression. With Ken'ichi though he figured that the whole concept of honor and how most people on the other side of the Pacific valued it would make it pretty hard and dangerous to say 'no' when you're being double teamed. If he had been placed in the Japanese kid's shoes he'd probably be walking around with a chip on his shoulder too and be generally mean spirited to anyone who approached him.

_Well I might not be able to do anything about getting him home faster but the least I can do is try to make his stay a little better._ , Xander thought to himself before saying, "Look I'm sorry you got hijacked into coming here but the way I see it you can either spend the next two weeks being pissed or you can try to make the best of a bad situation. So what'll it be?"

Ken'ichi seemed to actually think the matter over which was a good sign because the Zeppo had been afraid that the guy would stay in his bad mood out of sheer stubbornness. However it seemed that the sincerity he had put into his words had caused the teenager to both believe him and to reign in his anger somewhat. After awhile most of the anger seemed to dispel but there still remained an undercurrent beneath the surface kind of like a slinking form staying just out of range. Basically it looked like he would give Buffy and Willow another chance but that his bad mood was still waiting in the wings to bring the fight to Buffy if she got snarky again.

"Alright, I'll give the blonde bimbo another chance but if she insults me again all bets are off." Ken'ichi declared honestly as he stood up to go back to the school and attempt to patch things up with a certain blonde bombshell.

"Fair enough. Now let's head in and endure another three hours of the horror that is high school!" Xander said with no little amount of dread as he knew images of the nightmare he had experienced would surface again soon with the abundance of familiar shapes and sounds to be found in the school.

Front Door of the Harris Household, Two Hours Before the Costume Dance 

_Well time to see how many times Dad can call me a loser before it's time to leave for the costume ball!_ , Xander thought with depression as he turned the knob on the front door and went inside, _Hopefully he's too plastered now with booze to see or hear very well._

"Get in here boy and get this mess cleaned up!" bellowed a slightly tipsy Anthony Harris as he tried and failed to look intimidating to his son.

_Damn! I swear there has to be some god or goddess up there in heaven that waits on purpose for me to hope for the best and then tweaks the odds so that the opposite happens!_ , Xander thought to himself as he looked about the house to measure the size of the mess, _I bet that same god or goddess also arranged for my Mom and Dad to be particularly filthy and messy just so I'd have a big honkin' mess to clean up when I got home!_

Needless to say when he was done looking at the living room and the kitchen he both cursed the god or goddess responsible and mentally wondered how to 'adults' could cause such a big mess in between when he left for school and when he got back. Fortunately though it looked to be more or less trash clean up and some stain scrubbing which if he just focused on the more obvious ones should be finished in time for him to meet up with the gang for the dance. He didn't have much of a costume though given the black hole of cash that was his parents' drinking addiction but he still had managed to put together a half decent cowboy outfit. True the intention of the exchange student costume dance was to come dressed as a member of another culture in another country but he just couldn't afford something like that. He also couldn't make one himself from scratch because not only did he not have the materials for it but he couldn't sew something together if the fate of the Earth hung in the balance as well. That meant getting something second hand from a thrift store and looking through the hand-me-downs he already had for something that would go together. He'd just make up some freaky story if anyone asked about some area of Italy where everyone dressed up as people from the old west. It was feasible that Willow and probably Buffy might buy it and if any of the jocks heard it they'd be too mentally challenged to be able to prove him wrong.

_Still I won't be going anywhere if I don't get this mess cleaned up._ He thought to himself as he set about picking up the various bottles and empty paper bags littering the floor.

So for the next hour and a half he went room to room being grossed out more and more with every new room he entered and wondering if the neighbors could smell the stench. He was particularly worried when he found some especially pungent towels lying near the heaters in a way that might cause them to catch fire if he hadn't found them right then. By the time he was done he figured he was just three items shy of having a pretty good case of 'reckless endangerment' against his parents. While tempting to call the cops and have them both carted away he figured he would wait a little while longer and give them some more rope to hang themselves with. With any luck he could find a way to sue 'em, keep the house and get a load of cash out of the whole mess in the process. So once he finished putting the last of the trash out on the curb for the garbage truck he went down to his room to get into his costume hoping he wouldn't be late meeting up with his girls. Sadly that was when the god or goddess that had originally dumped on the mess on his shoulders decided to let the other shoe drop.

When he looked upon his room he was shocked to find that several things were missing and when he raced over to look for his costume he found that it too was missing. Panic set in as he tried to figure out what could have happened. A thief breaking in was possible as he was sure that at some point during the day both his parents had probably passed out in a drunken stupor. Someone could have easily snuck in and stolen a few things but when he thought about it further he decided that a thief hadn't broken in. He was pretty sure that none of his parents' things had been taken otherwise one or both of them would have been swearing up a storm when he arrived. That would imply that only some of his possessions had been taken but that didn't make a lot of sense either since most of the things he owned were hand-me-downs or used to be in a thrift store. Due to this fact nothing he owned really had any value at all and wouldn't be worth a crook's attention.

_So if no one outside of the house stole them then that just leaves….GOD DAMN IT!_ He thought as his mind clicked into what must have happened and who was responsible for ruining his evening.

His **father** and **mother** had **sold** some of his stuff again for more booze money! It had happened a few times over the years but ever since his dad somehow managed to land a job as a night watchmen at a warehouse in the industrial sector it had mostly stopped. So either his parents' liquor threshold had increased or his dad had gotten a pay cut resulting in a slight dip in funds for their nightly drinking binges. Normally the things they took were inconsequential and he could afford to do without them resulting in him being only slightly more peeved at his parents than usual. Tonight though he was moving straight past peeved and was rapidly approaching the exit to pissed at how his folks had messed up his evening. Thanks to them he was now officially without a costume of any kind and would stick out like a sore thumb amidst all the rest of the student body. He didn't have the money to get anything so it looked like he would have to go to the Summers house and tell them Buffy and Willow the bad news. He might even try and persuade Mrs. Summers to let him spend the evening over there since there was no way he was putting up with a drunken Mr. And Mrs. Harris after what they pulled.

Walking out of the house and purposefully slamming the door in order to aggravate Tony and Jessica's already booze induced headache. He knew he'd pay for it later but at that precise moment he didn't really care and felt it was worth whatever he got later to experience a little payback right now. Thus he steamed all the way over to Buffy's place but when he reached up to ring the doorbell he was reminded of his current predicament and wondered if it was really the smart thing to do to show up like this. He knew it would sour the mood for them and he didn't want to spoil what was probably going to be a blast for them at the dance. Still he knew if he just left that they would notice his absence and would probably ditch the dance to go looking for him. So in the end he would just have to tell them the truth and then insist that they go and have fun without him. With that plan of action in mind he reached up and rang the doorbell intending to flatter their costumes and then all but shove them out the door to make them go to the dance. It took a few moments but he eventually heard the tell-tale sound of feet stomping down the stairs and judging by the similarity to cement shoes he figured it was Buffy. It was funny that the Slayer could look so light on her feet when she was fighting a vampire but then be a complete lead foot when it came to basic walking around the house. When the door opened though his jaw almost dropped at the same time his eyes widened when he took in what the blonde Slayer had chosen to wear to the dance.

She hadn't elaborated any more than Willow had concerning what she was going to wear to the dance but he sure as hell hadn't been expecting **this**! From black wig to sandaled feet Buffy was dressed as a high-class geisha straight from Japan including the white face and blood red lips. It was something he had never expected to see Buffy dressed up as but he had to say that aside from the obvious Caucasian features on her face the outfit suited her. However from the look on her face he could tell that she wasn't exactly comfortable with the outfit and looked like she wanted to take it off ASAP.

"Hey Buff! I think you had an accident with a sack of flour because your face is all white." He said with his usual lopsided smile as she stood aside to non-verbally invite him in.

"Don't start! Mom picked this outfit out for me when she found out which country our exchange student would be coming from." , Buffy said with a glare that told him to drop the subject or receive pain, "Ken'ichi's been making fun of me all afternoon. Hey! Where's your costume?"

"My parents wound up giving to the salvation army downtown." , he said covering up the truth about his parents' booze habit, "So I decided to come over here and keep the lovely Joyce Summers company until you guys get back. Well that and score some of her world famous chocolate chip cookies before I have to go home."

To this Buffy at first looked sad that her friend wouldn't be joining her and Willow at the dance but just as quickly sad became glad as an idea popped into her head.

"Well if your not going then I'm not going! After all what kind of friend would I be if I went to a dance leaving my Xander-shaped friend all by his lonesome?" , Buffy said with faux compassion and sympathy, "I'll just go get this blanket Ken'ichi calls a dress off, wash this face paint away and then join you for some TV in something more American!"

"Buffy I appreciate the thought but you're kinda obligated to show up with your exchange student at the dance. Plus with Herr Snyder there you know you'll get in trouble if he finds you're not there." Xander said trying to do the best bud thing and make sure his friend had a good time since he couldn't.

"Trust me! Ken'ichi would like nothing better than to be far away from me and the feeling's mutual." , she said with a growl before continuing, "As for Snyder that troll can just kiss my perfect ass! Umm … on second though, eewww! Still I don't mind missing the dance and I'm sure Snyder will just give me a month detention at best even though he'd probably try and use it as an excuse to expel me."

"Still, try and think about Willow, she'll either get lonely there all alone or she'll copy you and get in trouble with Snyder as well." , Xander countered hoping to convince the Slayer that she should go to the dance, "Besides if you stay home it'll mean less chocolate chip cookies for me and if Willow joins us as well as Ken'ichi I'll be lucky to even get one!"

"If it'll get you too to stop being so 'nice' to one another I have something Xander might be able to use." Came the voice of Ken'ichi from the top of the stairs.

Standing right next to the steps all decked out in clothes that looked like they came directly from the set of a high budget samurai movie was Sanjo Ken'ichi. He even had his normally messy hair all combed out and put into a folded ponytail thing that samurai often had near the tops of their heads. He knew there was some kind of formal word for that folded hair thing but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was. In short he really looked like an official samurai and even had his bokken tucked beneath his belt at his left hip. Still he didn't know what the guy could have that would fit him and be suitable for the dance.

"Well come on!" Ken'ichi said as he turned to return to the guest room that he was staying in.

Deciding not to test someone capable of sounding that mean Xander followed him obediently only to enter the room to find him rooting around in his travel bag for what Xander presumed was his 'costume' idea. It took a few minutes but when he was done a white yukuta with a purple-ish gi lay on the bed waiting for him. For a moment he was struck with images from his nightmare but he willed his face to remain neutral. He was not going to let that one nightmare rule his future! If Ken'ichi wanted to provide a costume for him so he could go to the dance he'd take it. It took him a few minutes to put the stuff on in the bathroom but when he came out it was almost properly put on but Ken'ichi insisted on making a few adjustments to make it perfect. Apparently he wasn't about to let a 'baka gaijin' dress up like one of his people unless everything was done exactly right.

"Hey Ken'ichi? I get you packing your outfit so you'd have something for the dance but why pack two?" Xander asked as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"My grandpa packed the one you're wearing. He said it was the same sort of outfit a famous swordsman wore when he was my age." , Ken'ichi said over his shoulder as they both began to walk towards the front door, "Personally I don't understand how any self-respecting swordsman could wear that color gi and not be pummeled by the others for embarrassing them."

_Great! He tried to do me a favor and at the same time makes me a target for every in-guy and jock at the dance!_ , Xander thought to himself before glancing skyward, _I sure hope whatever god or goddess is putting me through this is having a good time because I know I won't this evening!_

The Bronze, Later That Evening 

_Well I think that my fun meter has just dropped to an all time low._ Xander thought morosely as he tried to find a spot in the Bronze where the jocks wouldn't notice him.

So far every jock present had made fun of him at least twice and all the girls worth looking at had spent their time pointing at him and laughing. Needless to say he almost wished he was still cleaning up his house and trying to undo the damage his parents had done to it in their collective stupor. Almost. Still if something positive didn't happen soon he might just slip out of the place and head home. Knowing his luck he'll probably wind up bumping into a vamp and get himself killed. The way that his luck was running today that was just the sort of thing the demented god or goddess would do to him in order to cap off the day.

It was then that he noticed a young girl who seemed to be wandering around the place with no firm companion or idea of what to do next. She was obviously of Asian descent but what kind of puzzled him was her choice of costume for the dance. Her outfit was a female ninja he thought given the visible dagger tucked beneath her belt but also because of the headband she had tied on her forehead. While he might be mistaken he was fairly certain that ninjas of that sort came predominantly from Japan but if that was true then Sunnydale had two exchange students from Japan. That didn't make sense since he didn't see any other two exchange students from the same country present at the moment. For a moment he thought that maybe Japan was such a large country that they sent two students instead of the normal one but that meant that countries like Russia or Brazil should have sent somewhere around six. In short she was a mystery and if the looks she was getting from some of the jocks she was about to be a conquest if he didn't do something soon.

Doing his best to move through the crowd without drawing attention to himself while at the same time keeping an eye on the Japanese girl. Given the way she was dressed he had to wonder at her intelligence since it was a given when a beautiful young lady wears something that shows off that much leg she was going to attract the wrong type of guy. Add to that the way her shirt or whatever was showing off her … um … unique chest and he figured she was definitely asking for some aroused males to make a play for her with 'no' not being an acceptable answer. Being the kind of guy he was he figured it would probably be for the best if he made it look like she was with him and that she was off the menu before those jocks decided to sit down at the proverbial table. Before he cleared the main crowd he picked up two cups of soda and proceeded to walk up to her.

"You look like you're a bit thirsty." , Xander said to attract her attention before trying to pass her one of the cups, "Here."

"Nani?" the young woman said before tentatively taking the offered cup of soda.

"You just looked a little lost." Xander replied to what was obviously a question or the equivalent of 'huh'.

"Ummm … t-thank y-you?" the young woman said with a definite accent.

It was clear both from the look on her face and the way that she spoke that she probably only had a 'movie' understanding of the English language. That would make things more difficult as it would be harder to convince the still approaching jocks that they were together and that the young lady was not up for grabs. Unfortunately until he managed to get across to her what he was trying to do while at the same time using only words rather than actions. After all while it was possible for him to simply grab her by the arm and attempt to lead her away or put his arm around her like they were boyfriend/girlfriend such actions would likely earn him a punch in the face or a kick in the crotch from her if she misinterpreted his intentions.

"Are you from Japan?" he asked as he figured that finding out where she was from would be a good start.

"Hai! I from Nekomi." The young woman replied with a smile that definitely looked beautiful on her.

Xander of course had no idea where in Japan Nekomi was decided to play it dumb and just nod with his lopsided grin firmly in place.

"Are you with the student exchange program?" he asked deciding to satisfy his own curiosity by finding out whether she was or was not with the program.

"Uh-uh. I here to see …ummm … cousin." , the young woman replied, "He leave in bad mood so kaasan and tousan send me to … keep an eye on him?"

Well that confirmed that she wasn't a part of the program but it also let him know who she was here to look after. After all she said she was here to look after a cousin from Japan who was here at the Bronze tonight. That meant her cousin was most likely Ken'ichi. This would actually work in his favor because if he got her to the samurai costume wearing exchange students then between the two of them they should be able to keep the jocks at bay.

"Is your cousin Sanjo Ken'ichi?" he asked making sure that he put the family name first and the first name last.

"Hai! You know where Ken'ichi is?" she asked with a smile that only got bigger.

"Yeah. I borrowed this costume from him." , he replied as he enjoyed the look of happiness on her face, "I think I saw him up on the level above us. Do you want me to take you to him?"

"Hai!" she replied and immediately latched onto his arm.

_Okay! So maybe she wouldn't be so angry about physical action as I thought!_ Xander said mentally as he led her to the nearest set of stairs that would take them to the second level.

For a time it seemed to work and when they both got to the second level with no conquering jocks in sight he figured he had managed to accomplish his mission. However when he took a second look at the stairs on the other side of the platform he spied the very football players he had been trying to save the young kunoichi from in the first place. Apparently they either knew him or knew his type and figured they could wrestle the lady away from him without much trouble. Frantically he looked about the area for Ken'ichi and the safety of having another guy with a mean glare in his arsenal to drive the Neanderthals away. Sadly when he did locate Ken'ichi the guy was almost on the other end of the platform and with the number of people here there was no way he'd be able to get to the two of them in time. In the end he was left with only a few options he decided to choose the potentially more painful of the two but also one that stood the best chance of scaring off the jocks and keeping the young Japanese girl safe.

Turning to face her he placed on hand on her shoulder and another on her waist and quickly said "Sorry miss but you'll thank me for this later!"

Before she could say anything, using her momentary confusion to his advantage, he pulled her towards him and kissed her full on the lips. He didn't intend to make it a long 'hot and steamy' kiss but rather one long enough that the jocks would take one look at the two of them and conclude that they were a couple and therefore she was not available. He hoped her state of confusion and shock would last long enough for the jocks to get the message but if it didn't then he hoped the second part of the plan kicked in. When he had done this he had done so with the idea that the young woman might get pissed and either slap him hard across the face or kick him in the family jewels or maybe both. He considered those responses to be universal ways for a woman to tell a guy she wasn't to be messed with or taken lightly or treated like a slab of meat. Therefore if she wound up doing it to him the jocks would take notice and move on to some easier targets or maybe back to fellow female classmates.

However what really did happen shocked him both positively and negatively at the same time.

Not only did the girl not push him away and either slap him field goal kick him in the balls but she actually seemed to be enjoying the kiss. That theory was verified when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips harder against his own. Needless to say this sent his mind into complete overload rendering him unable to stop the kiss or bring himself to state that he wasn't in some small way enjoying it. It was only when she took things a step further by having her tongue seek entry into his mouth that his sense of honor and decency kicked in and he gently pushed her away. For a moment they both just stood there, him with a slightly dazed look on his face and her with a mix of lust and disappointment, before he finally could get his mouth and vocal cords to work.

"Ummm, not that I'm complaining or anything but why didn't you slap me or something?" , Xander asked as he wanted to understand her actions before he tried to explain his own, "I mean most girls I know would have done something violent if a guy they don't know suddenly kissed them like that."

"I not mind!" , the young Japanese girl said with a twinkle in her eye, "B'sides stupid men trying to pick me up all night. So I thankful for help in making them go away. Also you wearing clothes aunt and uncle gave cousin before he left so you must be nice."

Xander was pleasantly surprised at this and with a grin turned to begin to leader her to where he had last seen Ken'ichi but was interrupted when a bokken slammed into his forehead. From there all he would ever remember was falling to the ground, the darkness of unconsciousness filling his vision and the young Japanese girl saying the following:

"Ken'ichi! Why you do that? He do nothing wrong! B'sides he good kisser!"


	2. A Reopened Wound

Summers Household, One Hour Later 

"Oooohhhh! Wha' happened?" Xander managed to force from his mouth as consciousness returned to him.

He could tell within the first few seconds that he was not at the Bronze and given how comfy the couch he was laying on was he figured he had to be at Buffy's house. Either that or they had taken him to the nearest furniture store and had him laid out on one of the couches in the living/rec room section. Opening his eyes he found himself looking into a beautiful brown eyes that seemed to like his brown eyes as well. Then again maybe he was being challenged to a staring contest right away but that seemed unlikely. As he regained his full senses he soon realized that it was the young Japanese girl he had helped at the Bronze. Once that fact clicked in the rest of them came as well including the part about seeing a bokken coming down towards his head followed immediately by unconsciousness. From there simple process of elimination told him who had hit him as there couldn't have been that many people at the dance with a bokken on them. Pushing himself into a sitting position as the young woman backed away and sat on the floor Xander looked about the room for the culprit who was most certainly here. Ken'ichi was sitting in one of the larger chairs in the Summers' living room looking only a little sorry for what he did with the rest of him refusing to admit he did anything wrong. This ticked Xander off because it was he **himself** who hadn't done anything wrong and he remembered Ken'ichi's cousin even saying that herself.

So he decided to let the arrogant wannabe samurai know it too.

"Ken'ichi! What was the big idea hitting me like that?" Xander yelled before being forced to hold his forehead in an attempt to force the pain back down.

"You were kissing my **Cousin** gaijin! She couldn't have been in town for more than a day so there's no way you could be dating one another!" , Ken'ichi replied in an attempt to make it look as though it was all Xander's fault, "Even if you did somehow become boyfriend and girlfriend its much too early for **that** kind of kissing! Besides if a wimpy gaijin like you can't take a light tap like that than you're even weaker than I thought!"

"Ken'ichi! That not light tap! You might 'ave put him in hospital with your attack!" , the Japanese girl said angrily, "You say sorry right **NOW** or I tell you kaasan when we get home!"

That apparently hit the mark as the Japanese teenager's eyes widened and it looked as though he was about five seconds from begging his sister not to tell his parents before he stopped himself from saying something so unmanly and shameful. With a growl he turned and looked at Xander as if blaming him once again for what he now had to do.

"I'm sorry I hit you with my bokken Xander." , Ken'ichi said as though the words were causing him great pain, "But if you so much as look at Megumi the wrong way again you'll feel my bokken hit you in a place a lot more important to a man than his head!"

"Ken'ichi! Ahou! That **not** apology!" , Megumi yelled with fire in her eyes as she glared at her cousin before turning back to Xander, "Gomen nasai! Ken'ichi not mean to be ahou. He just very proud 'cause his clan come from long line of great samurai."

Xander's anger at Ken'ichi lessened somewhat at that. He could understand pride and how hard it could be for some people to say the real important things whether it be a simply 'I am sorry' or something more intimate. For him personally it was to reveal anything about his home life to his friends. Willow only knew because he had once escaped to her place after his father had beat on him for an hour. Even with that one incident the redhead didn't know just how bad things were at the Harris household and he hoped she never would. So he could see where Ken'ichi was coming from, sort of, but he still thought the guy went overboard by clobbering him with a bokken. In any case though this whole scenario seemed to be stressing Megumi out so he figured it'd be best not to draw it out anymore.

"I guess it's alright. This is a student exchange program after all and there were bound to be a few misunderstandings along the way. Though to tell you the truth I thought it would happen when I tried to say something to him in Japanese not when I kissed his cute cousin trying to saver her from a pair of cock-jocks." Xander said with his carefree lopsided smile.

Megumi smiled at him calling her cute and Ken'ichi looked like he was glad the whole 'say you are sorry' mess was over with.

"Well since it's obvious I missed the end of the dance I think I'll head home now and try to sleep off this concussion." , Xander replied as he got up from the Summers' couch, "I'll just go change back to my clothes."

"No! You keep those!" , Megumi declared firmly with a fair imitation of Willow's resolve face, "Is part of Ken'ichi's apology. B'sides he not want to wear parents' gift anyway."

"Um, okay." , Xander said as he took a brief look downwards at the outfit in question, "Although I'm not sure how many opportunities I'm going to have to wear something like this."

"I'm sure you'll think of something gaijin." Ken'ichi said sarcastically as he leaned back and enjoyed the comfort of the chair he was in.

Given the look that Megumi was sending her cousin at the moment he figured that now was about the right time to get out of there and head home. Obviously Megumi and Ken'ichi were the type of relatives that while they hated each other they would also do anything to keep the other safe. Still he figured it would be better not to be in range of any near misses or statements that ended in 'Xander what do you think' just to be one the safe side. Therefore once he had retrieved his clothing from the guest room upstairs, pleased to find that apparently Mrs. Summers had washed them, he strolled out the front door and began his journey home. He knew he should have changed into his normal American clothes but for some reason he couldn't be bothered with taking the time to do so. Besides which he figured a large number of the other students from the costume dance probably walked home in their costumes as well so he wouldn't exactly stand out. He had almost come to the first turn on his pre-planned route home when screams tore the silence of the night asunder and sent a chill down his spine.

A moment of indecision about going to help, caused by what he was wearing, lasted only a moment before he ran off in the direction of the scream. It was just his luck not only to get clobbered by Buffy's exchange student from Japan but also come within range of a vamp attack causing his White Knight complex to kick in. He knew that was how Buffy and Willow saw some of his attempts to help out in the slaying and he had to admit that to a degree it was true. He really couldn't stop himself from helping out someone in trouble especially if it was someone who stood no chance of winning without help. He of course blamed it on his parents. After the numerous beatings he went through growing up he never wanted anyone else to have to go through something like that and would do whatever it took to protect them. Add to that the desire to become a better man than his father could ever hope of becoming. So much better that no one would ever associate Tony Harris with him and stand in complete disbelief if anyone told them that they were father and son.

It didn't take him long to arrive at the source of the screams but when he saw what was going on he froze.

He had come into this situation believing that he'd be fighting vampires but the ones doing the killing were most certainly not vampires but rather humans. What caused him to freeze though were the weapons that were being used and the way they were being used. An Asian family was being chased down the street by a group of ten men all wielding weapons that were at least a century out of date. Swords, spears, bludgeoning weapons and daggers were in their hands and as he watched one man who was not as swift as the rest of the group had a sword buried from his shoulder down to his stomach. As he watched this scene an incomprehensible fear and dread came over him, as if he somehow knew how this would end. This was confirmed as another man took a spear to the back of the head in a truly gruesome sigh but one that did not surprise Xander in the least since he had known in his soul what the man's fate was to be. It was then that he shook himself out of this frozen state determined to put a stop to this before any more lives were lost. The feelings that began to take hold of him were consuming his will, driving him to action no matter the odds.

Looking right and left for a weapon he noticed a metal rod roughly the length of his arm sticking out of a house's trash can and quickly pulled it out. Gripping one end with both hands he charged the group of men as fast as he could praying that if they failed to take notice of him until he was already in the thick of things he might have a chance. He was less than ten feet away from the bandit at the rear of the pack when the man in question seemed to hear him and turn around but by then it was too late for him. With a powerful swing he slammed the rod into the trailing bandit's head hard knocking the man out instantly and perhaps giving him a concussion in the process. As Xander turned away from the fallen man his eyes fell upon a sight that seemed to be composed of two images instead of just one. Slightly ahead of the group of bandits a woman seemed to be struggling to increase her speed. However the men behind her were much faster and before he could even shout out a warning the lead man ruthlessly speared her through the back and tossed her aside as if she were no more than a sack of flour. However as the fact was being committed a ghost-like image seemed to be superimposed on top of the woman. Instead of modern clothes and hairstyle the woman seemed to wear clothes more commonly worn by Japanese women over a century ago in Japan. Even her hairstyle seemed to match that time period but before he could think more on it the image of the past vanished and he could only watch a woman in American clothes fall to the ground. This sight only spurred Xander on further and it was due to this increase of speed that he was heard by the man now at the rear of the group of bandits causing him to turn and stop to confront the Zeppo.

Their respective weapons met just a few feet away from the woman who had been speared through the back and while most of his attention was on his opponent Xander could still hear her last words before she died.

"Save him! Save Shinta! Save him ple-ease!"

It touched him that in her dying moments her only thoughts were of saving someone that for some reason Xander was sure was a little boy. As a sudden increase in pressure from his enemy trying to push Xander back became noticeable the Zeppo pushed such thoughts from his mind and focused only on defeating these murderers as quickly as he could. Deciding to use his enemy's aggression to his advantage Xander ceased pushing back on the man's sword and slipped to the left at the same time. This took the bandit by surprise causing him to stumble forward and this is when Xander struck slamming his metal rod down on the back of the man's neck. The founding member of the Scooby gang didn't even flinch as the audible crack of bone breaking reached his ears before he ran towards the remaining bandits. In the time it had taken him to deal with two of the killers the remaining eight had apparently cornered the five remaining family members including a boy just as he had inferred from the dying woman's statement. He didn't know if the five family members had been injured in some way and were unable to run anymore or if they were simply out of shape. In any case their one defense against the crooks was now gone and the time Xander had to deal with the murderers and save the family was cut down drastically. He now knew he had to deal with the remaining men in the first few swings of his metal rod or by the time he took down five of the remaining eight men every member of the family would be dead.

"Hey Shitheads! Why don't you pick on someone who can actually fight back?" he yelled hoping name calling and challenging them would draw them towards him and away from the family.

This sort of worked as it drew four of the remaining eight killers his way but the remaining four stayed with the family. Still given the situation the smart mouthed high school student knew better than to complain considering they all could have ignored him and focused in their prey for the night. It did put him in a bit of a spot but he hoped that these guys would be cocky enough that they'd just come at him one at a time. If they attacked him all at once he'd be lucky to last a minute much less defeat them and go after the remaining four.

As if in answer to his wish the four men took up positions to prevent him from getting around them to the family and then the second one from the left stepped forward with a short sword in his hand. Deciding to take the aggressive position the Zeppo went on the attack slamming his rod into the short sword intent on batting it out of the man's hands and then bashing the rod into something vital. Unfortunately the man seemed to see this coming and offered no resistance to the rod when it make contact with the short sword which put Xander off balance. Seeing that the bandit allowed his short sword to twist under Xander's rod and turned it into a slash aimed at the Scooby's chest. It was dumb luck that Xander was able to move far enough out of the path of the blade as he did but he still ended up receiving a nasty gash across his chest. Serious enough to draw blood and cause pain but not deep enough to hit bone or damage the internal organs. Hopping backwards a few steps in order to rethink his strategy he found the fates turning against him as his opponent followed him instead of giving him the time he needed to recover. The killer lashed out with another slash intending to give the bleeding one on Xander's chest a friend to keep it company.

Just then a whisper in the back of his mind seemed to be screaming at him to dodge backwards and in the opposite direction of his attacker's swing. With fear inspired by the gash in his chest and not having any other good ideas on hand he did as the voice commanded. Almost as though he and his attacker had choreographed the scene beforehand Xander smoothly slid out of the way of his enemy's attack and into a prime position to attack. So surprised was he by this turn of events he almost didn't take advantage of the opportunity he had been given but just as the murderer was about to bring his guard up Xander hammered the rod into the man's sword arm. Bone broke causing the man to howl in pain but the howl was quickly cut off as Xander grabbed the rod by both ends and slammed the pipe into his attacker's throat. This crushed the man's larynx sending him gagging backwards as he struggled to breath before finally falling over unconscious. This unfortunately had the effect of making his remaining three attackers re-evaluate his threat level though and this time he was forced to come up against two of them at once.

_This is getting seriously not good!_ Xander thought as he struggled vigorously to block and dodge the attacks sent at him by the two bandits.

It was hard enough to deal with one of these trained thugs and come out on top! To try and deal with two at the same time was going to make victory almost impossible and survival highly unlikely. These bandits were looking more and more to be a great deal more skilled than he had originally thought and while slaying vamps with the gang might give him an edge in terms of strength and speed the bad guys had the edge in skill. However as he saw over the shoulders of the two that faced the last man of the family get cut down in a vicious manner the point became moot. He had to win! He would not let any more members of this family die! With a roar of aggression he charged the two men intent on making them back up instead of him being the one to retreat. Faking that he was going for an overhead blow he immediately changed into a horizontal slam hitting the killer on the right hard in the ribs. With him stunned and in pain he pretended to repeat the same tactic with the second one but this time really did aim for and deliver a crushing blow to the man's head.

_Almost there! Almost there!_ Xander thought to himself repeatedly as he charged the last of the four men that had answered his challenge.

"Please don't hurt him!" screamed one of the women guarding the boy just before her voice was silenced by a bandit's sword.

Again two images were presented to him, one on top of the other, as he saw the woman who had spoken fall to the ground in a heap. A woman dressed in Japanese clothes a century out of date laid over a woman in modern clothes but both with the same wound across their torsos. Doubling his efforts to defeat his last opponent he was immediately reminded of the opponent he had only stunned moments ago as a blade tore through the back of his shirt cutting a gash along his back from his right shoulder to his left hip. Almost stumbling to the right in order to avoid any follow up slash by the man behind him he didn't see the so-called last bandit's foot heading for his chest until it was too late. Pain tore through his body as the kick connected with the slash wound across his chest aggravating the wound and adding the pain with the force it was delivered with. Knocked to the ground he almost groaned with dismay as the pain caused by the kick had caused him to drop the metal rod he had been using as a weapon up until then. He tried to reach for it but the bandit he had tried to get by in order to rescue the surviving family members kicked it further away making sure that he wouldn't be able to reach it before they cut him down.

It was when he began to move away from the two men wishing to slice him open that he felt something brush up against the fingertips of his right hand. Moving his head just enough to look at the object out of the corner of his eye he discovered that it was a katana. One of the guys he knocked out must have dropped it when they fell down. Still, even with a weapon in reach, these guys wouldn't be underestimating him anymore and with two nasty slashes on his front and back he was hardly in prime fighting condition. He might get lucky and be able to take down the one that he slammed in the ribs but the last guy who was still fresh would slice him up into sushi. Still he still had a shot and the more he hesitated the less chance the remaining members of that Japanese family had to survive.

Almost as if to turn his theory into truth one of the two remaining women who had been attempting to shield the little boy with their bodies let out a cry of despair and moved to the one who had tried to convince the bandits to spare the boy.

"Oh my dear sister! Nnnooo! AH!" the woman wailed in sadness before the same man who slew her sister did the same to her.

That settled it.

Grabbing the katana firmly in his right hand he swung at the bandits that had him cornered with a short but wide move in order to clear some space around him so he could stand up. Ignoring the protests of both his back and his chest he pushed himself to his feet and charged both men vowing that one way or another he was going to save the boy and the final woman no matter what it took. With his emotions running at an all time high the voice that had allowed him to get the drop on one of the bandits was louder than ever and with it came instincts he never knew he had. With these sensations in mind he decided to take a chance and gave full control over his actions to both the voice and the instincts that had manifested out of nowhere.

It was as if his body was on some sort of preprogrammed sequence of movements as it skillfully dodged the first murderer's thrust with the spear by moving slightly to the side and neatly sliced his head off as it passed by. Seeing this skillful move the one that had sliced open his back brought his weapon up with the intention of fighting with everything he had.

It didn't save him one bit as his head followed the fate of his comrade's and fell to the ground two seconds before his body followed suit.

Sliding to a halt as his momentum was spent Xander turned to the final three murderers only aware of his body's protests on a peripheral level. He looked at them with cold eyes that held none of the mischievous and carefree spirit he was so well known for and he could tell that they knew he would not hesitate to slay all of them. One of them, a bald man who liked to show off his muscles, grabbed the sole surviving woman by the hair and pulled her to her feet. The bandit then used her as a human shield with a dagger at her throat to make it clear what would happen if Xander came any closer.

"I will give you three one chance." , Xander stated in a tone that matched the temperature in his eyes, "Release the woman and the boy then turn yourselves into the police. It will be the only chance you have to live past tonight."

"You're in no position to be dictating terms kid!" , the bandit holding the woman yelled trying to sound confident, "I'm the one holding a hostage with a blade to her throat! No matter how fast or good you are with a sword you'll never reach her in time!"

"That is where you're wrong. As long as the woman and the boy live I will consider letting you three live." , Xander explained with no more emotion in his voice than before, "However if you kill even one of them there will be no place on this **planet** you will be safe from me. Now release them or **die**."

Leader of the Armed Men's Perspective, Same Time 

_THIS IS A DISASTER!_ Thought Mizuki as he took in the young man who was supposed to be a helpless American kid, a loosely competent swordsman at best.

It had all started out well enough though. His team had been hand picked by the boss' right hand man Hiroshi to recover another potential ally to the cause. It had been fairly commonplace over the last ten years and just about every team in the organization had been given the assignment at one point or another. In the beginning he hadn't given the concept of reincarnation any real thought and for the most part believed it to be a bunch of religious nonsense. However when one of the retrieved persons managed to lead him to a storehouse of gold bullion that only the person who had put it there could have found he began to see it in a new light. In a way it was kind of exciting as it was pretty much the equivalent of working alongside historical warriors even though those that had been men in the past were in some cases now women. Still it made for an interesting job and it even made him believe that anything was possible to those who proved themselves worthy to the boss. That was why he and the guys had been so pleased when they had been selected for what according to rumor was to be a career boosting assignment.

They had been told in the briefing that another retrieval subject had been found in the small town of Sunnydale, California, USA and that this one was a special case. They had been shown pictures of the target as well as a loose summary of the kid's history and weekly routines. Nothing too special at first glance, just your typical American high school student, but when you looked at the information about the town itself it put the kid in a whole new light. The town was a hot zone for demons and dark magic users with numerous types from both categories going in and out of town at all times. That had told him that a kid living in this town had to have some pretty impressive survival traits. Still he had at the time not seen any problems getting the kid but then again getting the kid physically was only half the mission. The term retrieval in the case of these sort of missions also referred to the subject's memories of their past lives which is why these scenarios were developed and played out like this. The situations that were played out were used to bring the subject's memories to the surface at which time all it usually took was a promise of power and wealth to turn them into an ally. When he had looked over the file stating who exactly this kid was supposed to have been in his past life he had believed this scenario's outcome would be no different. Apparently the kid was the reincarnation of a famous Japanese swordsman responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of soldiers during the Meiji revolution. Mizuki had foreseen no trouble in converting such a warrior to the boss' cause and had diligently managed his team to follow Hiroshi's plan to the letter.

The plan itself was to make his team look like a group of bandits who intended to run down, kill and rob a Japanese family. At the same time his men at the rear of the group were to engage the subject once he arrived and use just enough force to hold him back so he could watch the slaughter. According to Hiroshi the sigh of so much blood and the murder of an apparently 'innocent' family would be enough to bring the kid's past life memories to the surface. Once that happened he was to make the usual power and money offer and then escort the kid back to HQ.

That had been the plan.

However after the kid somehow managed to knock out two of his men in as many minutes he had begun to have doubts about how things would turn out. Still the moves the kid had used on the first two members he fought hadn't been anything impressive so he figured those two had just gotten careless. However it was with the next one that he definitely began to sense that something was not right with this situation. The kid had moved with skill and agility that he had shown no signs of before and had broken the guy's neck with not a shred of remorse on his face. From there it had gotten progressively worse as the kid seemed to become more deadly and more determined with every 'victim' his team killed. When the kid fallen to the ground and lost his weapon in the process he had felt a slight sensation of hope that the mission would end well after all. However that sensation was quickly transmuted into the first signs of fear when the kid had grabbed a sword from one of the unconscious men and swung it at the two that had cornered him. Then in a matter of seconds the boy killed not one but two of his men with such skill and precision so as to make his opponents look like children by comparison. However it was when the boy had looked at him and his two teammates that the fear became real in his soul. The eyes he saw were not those of a typical American teenager or even the eyes of a streetwise tough guy who had fought his way up the ladder to a position of power. They were the eyes of a stone cold assassin who took out his targets with no remorse or guilt whatsoever and rarely failed to complete a mission.

Benny, one of the two others aside himself who were still alive, had taken the woman who had been slated as the second last person to be killed and tried to use her as a shield as well as a bargaining chip. The man no doubt still believed that he was looking at just some punk kid who had a few slick moves and couldn't see what lay in the young man's eyes. Mizuki had no illusions about what was going to happen in the next few minutes depending on the choices that were made by he and his comrades. If they let the boy and the woman go and turned themselves into the local authorities like the kid had ordered they would live if only for a few more hours before they wound up silenced by agents of the boss. The leader's tolerance for failure was well known in the organization. The only question would be would the end be dealt to him quickly or would it be drawn out over the course of the next few months. However if they tried to fight the boy they would most likely die as well. It was a no win situation and in a moment of clarity he realized that he and his men had been sent on a suicide mission. They had never been expected to return alive from this mission with the subject! They had been set up!

_Damn you Shishio! _Mizuki thought as feelings of rage mixed with the fear within his soul as his mind sought a way to survive this debacle.

However movement by the third and last surviving member of his team broke his concentration as Ricky charged the boy head on with his naginta. Mizuki yelled out for his friend to stop, to try to convey to the man that he was committing suicide but in the space between thinking about giving the warning and actually speaking it was over. The blade of the katana the boy wielded seemed to shoot up out of the top of Ricky's head and some part of Mizuki knew how the kid had done it. With the sickening sound of a blade being withdrawn from flesh the katana was withdrawn from Ricky's head allowing his body to fall lifelessly to the ground.

"DAMN YOU!" Benny yelled as in a moment of madness he cut the woman's throat from one side of the neck to the other as some kind of revenge for his fallen friend.

That turned out to be the last mistake Benny Soprano ever made as in the time it took for the body of the woman to fall to the ground the boy crossed the distance between the two of them. By some freak chance of luck Benny managed to get one swing in with his sword but it was blocked by the boy and made to slide off to the side. The boy then rammed the kashira into Benny's eye socket destroying the eyeball within before performing a horizontal slash that sunk right to the man's spine. Then in a horrifying sight the boy used his other hand to push the blade even further literally cutting Benny in two at the waist. With a flick of his wrist the boy shook all the loose blood and bits of flesh from his acquired katana and looked at him with those cold assassin eyes. The boy didn't even seem to realize that he was almost completely covered in blood whether it be his own or that of his defeated enemies. They stood there looking at one another and it was almost as if the boy was waiting for him to decide how things would go from here. Mizuki knew he was dead but the manner of death was still up to him. He could die begging for his life or he could go down fighting and cursing Shishio's name on his way down to hell.

_There is only one choice in the end._ , Mizuki thought as he brought his sword into an offensive position, _I just hope that someday Shishio gets his!_

With that he charged the boy with a defiant yell erupting from his mouth and the fire of anger burning in his eyes.

Xander's Perspective, Ten Seconds Later 

It was over.

The last enemy's body lay dead on the ground in a growing pool of his own blood and he felt nothing about what he had just done. To him these men had already been dead the moment they began to slaughter these helpless people. He just made sure their deaths happened sooner rather than later. They deserved this fate because to him those that slaughtered those who could not fight back and took pleasure in it were no better then vampires and should be dealt with in a like manner. Walking over to the sheath his katana belonged to he ripped it from its previous owner's belt and sheathed the blade before tucking the weapon beneath his belt on his left hip. It was at this point that he heard the sounds of sobbing and turned dispassionately to the source to see the small boy, the only survivor of the massacre, sitting on the ground in a fetal position crying. It was only then that which brought Xander back to himself and with him came his emotions and the realization of what he had done. A stinging sensation lanced through his left cheek causing him to reach up with his right hand to determine the cause. The pain intensified for a moment when he pressed his right hand to his left cheek and when he brought the hand before his eyes he saw a singular red line of blood there before him.

_My cheek … is .. cut!_ , Xander thought to himself with shock as memories of his nightmare came to him, _Right where I was cut in that dream!_

With this knowledge his mind almost shut down completely but his desire to figure out what the hell was happening to him was strong enough to remain conscious. Collapsing to his knees he took in the scene around him, dead bodies and all. The bodies of the bandits, the bodies of all but one of the Japanese family and him covered in blood with the slashes on his chest and back making their presence felt. The whole thing from the moment he had come turned the corner onto this street seemed so surreal and his reaction to it even more unbelievable. He, the Zeppo, had charged into a fight where he was outnumbered ten to one with nothing but a metal rod as a weapon. It seemed insane that he had done it willingly and even more insane that he had done as well as he had against men who were obviously trained in the use of these weapons. However what scared him the most was how he had so coldly dispatched the last five men with the katana and how their deaths had provoked no reaction in him emotion-wise. Even if they had acted no better than vampires they were still human! They could've gone to jail or he could have scared them off but instead he cut them down without mercy. This sequence of thoughts threaten to overwhelm his mind once more but as if in an effort to prevent that from happening a voice came to him seemingly out of nowhere.

"Shinta! Shinta! You must listen to me! Your life has not been chosen for you so you must live. Listen! Our fates have been decided tonight but you must survive to honor those that did not. Save yourself!"

In a daze he knew that the words were not meant for him but at the same time he felt that he had heard someone say something similar a long time ago. Whatever the case they gave him the strength to push back the blackness of unconsciousness for now and make sure that both he and the boy survived this night. Getting unsteadily to his feet he approached the boy as slowly and unthreateningly as he could making no sudden movements or loud noises. He managed to get within eight feet of the boy before he reacted by trying to move away further so Xander stopped his approach. Somehow remembering that children were afraid of large tall things he bent down on one knee so that he height was no longer so great. This seemed to have the desired affect as the boy no longer moved away but at the same time the traumatized kid did not move closer either. Knowing he could not make himself look less threatening in terms of his tattered clothes or the blood on him he tried to put as much kindness and compassion into his eyes as possible. At the same time he mustered up a prize winning lopsided smile that he usually kept in the vault for moments when the gang was particularly bummed out or serious and needed to lighten up. This seemed to work as the kid lost a great deal of the fear he had of Xander but the indecision still remained. It was only then that Xander knew what the kid both wanted and needed more than anything else at that moment.

"Will you let me take you someplace safe?" he asked in as gentle a voice as he could manage.

As the seconds passed with indecision still written on the boy's face the Zeppo thought that he would have to think of some other way to coax the boy into coming with him to someplace safe. However just as his mind began to review the possible solutions the boy sprang to his feet, ran to Xander and wrapped his small arms around his neck. As the boy cried into the cloth of the haori he wrapped his own arms around the boy and a short while later lifted him off the ground. Without hesitation he began to walk in the direction of the one place he knew of where he felt truly safe and with the destination in mind he put his body on autopilot for the remainder of the journey there. This relieved some of the strain on his mind as it took little effort for the brain to instruct the feet to walk and his eyes to watch for certain landmarks. In place of conscious thoughts though the memories of what happened only a short while ago replayed themselves over and over again. However they were not alone as with each repetition of the events ghost memories began to appear amidst the real ones. In some cases the players in each overlapped one another but in most the ghost memories were displayed from a different perspective and height. As time progressed further the ghost memories became more tangible and detailed instead of completely transparent as in beginning.

As he reached the final length of road he knew he would have to travel two voices held a conversation in his mind and as he walked he listened.

"You dug graves for your family and their murderers." Said a deep and wise voice.

"This wasn't my family, they were slave traders. I was sold to them after my parents died. Last night they stopped being slave traders or murderers. They were all just victims." Said the voice belonging to a young boy.

"And these stones?" asked the Deep Wise Voice.

"Sakura, Kasumi and Akane. I only knew them for a few days but they protected me as if I were their own. I am just a boy but I should have protected them. They're gone. I have to live because they **died** for **me**!" , the young boy replied with emotion, "I wanted their graves to be beautiful but all I could find were these ugly rocks but it's the best I can do. I wish I had flowers. They all deserve flowers."

As he reached the front walkway of the house he began to feel his strength leaving him. Subconsciously he knew it was because he had lost quite a bit of blood but all that was on his mind at the moment was the conversation in his head and getting the boy to safety. So he soldiered on forcing his feet to continue walking despite his weakness. It was when he stumbled on the second step of the front porch and the front door opened that the final pieces of the conversation he had been listening to were spoken.

"No one should reach Nirvana without the taste of good sake on his lips." , said the Deep Wise Voice, "This is my tribute to them."

"Thank you, er.." said the voice of the young boy before he faltered not know the Deep Wise Voice's name.

"Seijuro Hiko. Learn the name of your new master." , Hiko said answering the boy's unanswered question, "Listen. You were unable to save the lives of the women who took care of you. Now your inner self is laden with their memories. Your small hands can attest to the weight of their lifeless bodies. However, you will learn that their memories are heavier and carrying them will make you stronger. This new strength will be your defense and aide you in the protection of that which is truly important but this can only happen if you are properly trained."

"Properly trained." Said the voice of the young boy as if he were testing the sound of the words rather than comprehending them.

"Tell me your name." Hiko said calmly in a way that was neither a question nor a demand.

"Shinta." The voice of the young boy replied.

"A child's name. Much too soft for a swordsman." , Hiko stated dismissively, "As of today you are Kenshin."

"Ken-shin." The boy said testing out his new name.

"I have found a pupil. Consider yourself fortunate." Hiko said with some satisfaction.

With those last words Xander lost his grip on consciousness and slipped away from the waking world knowing that when he awoke it would not be to the same world he had just left.


	3. An Aftermath and a Problem

Note to the readers: This note is to inform you that I am currently looking for a new beta reader for this fanfic. The author who did the previous two chapters has regretfully informed me that he/she no longer has the time to beta read for me as his own work and life have gotten busier in the last while. The following is the criteria I am looking for in a potential beta reader:

1)He/She must be quite familiar with both "Buffy the Vampire Slayer(The TV Show not the Movie)" and "Rurouni Kenshin(The Anime TV series not the manga)". By familiar I mean that you will have to have a good grasp of the characters of both shows as well as all the episodes. The reason for this is because I will be looking to the beta reader to make sure a level of accuracy is maintained with regards to the characters, the story Arcs and all the other elements that make up the show. It is very important to me to remain true to the source material that I am using in the fanfic. I don't want to write a chapter and then get reviews saying that 'this character would never do that' or 'it didn't happen that way in that episode'. So hopefully between myself and a beta reader I will be able to keep the inconsistencies and errors to a minimum.

2)Basic spelling and grammar correction. I do my best on my own to make sure the spelling and grammar is correct but I must confess that sometimes I miss a few mistakes. Hence the reason why I would like a beta reader to go over the new chapters as well to exterminate any spelling and grammar mistakes I miss.

3) This beta reader will also have the optional choice of being a sounding board for any plot ideas or story twists I come up with. This will help to work out any quirks or feasibility problems that might anger or confuse the readers.

If you can meet these criteria email me or post your name and email address in a review and I will try to get back to you ASAP. Thank you for reading this and now on with chapter 3 of "A Reborn Wanderer"!

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Sunnydale General Hosptial, One Week Later, Mid-Morning 

The sounds of a hospital are many from the gurneys being wheeled down the corridors with their noisy wheels to the announcements being made over the personal address system. Aside from those dominating sounds there were the sounds of the various people walking up and down the tiled floors as well as the muffled chatter of people talking to patients in the other rooms surrounding his own.

He however was numb to all of that.

Even though he had regained consciousness two days ago he was still pretty banged up and with the stitches in both his chest and back movement was at a minimum under threat of being strapped to his bed if he moved around too much. Aside from that there was the pain medication which was quite potent but reasonably considering the fact that he had two long gashes to deal with that were probably going to leave scars after the stitches were taken out. Despite these factors it was not the threats of restraints or the pain numbing effects of the medication that were responsible for the dead look on his face. No it was the memories that were on a constant loop inside his mind that could claim credit for his current emotional state. It was a loop that started with the nightmare he had when he went to sleep after seeing the exhibit at the museum, then went on to the events that were responsible for his current injuries before ending with a new set of memories that he could not believe belonged to him.

The new batch of memories might be a bit vague and not quite as detailed as the others were but he had little doubt that they'd eventually become complete with THX surround sound and high definition visuals as well. What was weird though was that aside from his first person point of view showing him what was going on there was no one else in these visions. He was all alone in a forest that was covered in snow as far as the eye could see and while there was some anger in his mind what was most potent was an undeniable need to get someplace as soon as he could. It didn't matter whether he dreamt of these images or merely remembered them when he was awake because the feelings they inspired remained the same.

He did his best to put on a brave face for his friends when they arrived but despite his best efforts he couldn't keep it all from showing up on his face. Deciding that handing them easy and honest answers was the way to go he had gone and told them that it was because of the massacre he had witnessed. That there were ordinary humans, in this day and age, willing to kill innocent people in such a brutal and bloody manner was shocking to say the least. That excuse was enough to get them off his back as far as his abnormal behavior went but it also opened him up for an attack from Buffy's overproteative nature as uell as a 'what uere you thinkine' rant. Normally when she went on one of her 'I fight, you hide' tangents he would get angry and tell her that a person didn't need to be super powered to fight the good fight. This time however her words held the sting of truth to them since he had come to the conclusion that rushing in to try and save those people was stupid. Despite the fact that he had done everything he could, despite the fact that some people might call what he did brave, every last one of them aside from the boy had died because wasn't good enough. If Buffy had been there she would have taken them all down in a matter of seconds with maybe only one or two of the members of the Japanese family needing to go to the hospital. With him, the inexperienced hanger-on, how could he have thought for one second that he could have done anything more than make the situation worse. With this in mind he mounted no defense as the Slayer laid into him with her words and it was probably this that caught Giles' notice causing him to cut Buffy off and try to divert the conversation towards something a little more neutral.

The gang had told him a little later that the boy had come through the ordeal in one piece physically but in terms of his mind he'd likely be scarred for life. Now if anyone tried to approach him in a group larger than three the boy started screaming at the top of his lungs and tried to get away from the group. They eventually had to sedate him and were hoping to be able to get into contact with the boy's next of kin soon in the hopes that they could help the child through his ordeal. So far though the search was not going well as it seemed that the majority of the kid's family had been with him that fateful night and were now dead. He figured the authorities would continue for a month or so to look for blood kin but when that failed the boy would be shipped off to child services and then most likely to a foster home. The thought of this boy being alone in the world now because one stupid Zeppo thought he could pull off a Buffy all on his own hurt him to the core. If it was possible he would have chosen to adopt the kid himself but he knew realistically that it was impossible. Not only was he not an adult in the eyes of the law but he also had no way to support himself much less a young boy. So now it was going to be a case of Russian Roulette with the boy as it was anyone's guess whether or not he'd land in a decent foster home. While he was sure that child services and the various foster child organizations did their best to screen out the bad families there were most certainly some bad families that knew how to put on a good face when the inspection teams came by to check them out. He just hoped that whatever god, goddess or deity that had cursed him with his unique brand of bad luck didn't take a liking to the boy because he wouldn't wish the Harris luck on anyone.

Hearing the familiar sound of the door opening up he saw the doctor that had been tending to him, a Dr. Gordon, and a nurse enter the room.

"Well Mr. Harris how are you feeling today?" Gordon asked as he went to the foot of the bed and picked up the folder that contained the records of what had been done since the doctor checked on him last.

"About the same as always Doc." He replied just as he had every other time the doctor had asked him that question.

"Well then I'm sure that the news I have for you today will brighten your mood." Gordon said with a look on his face that made it clear he was troubled by the teenager's response, "If everything looks to be in order with the stitches on your chest and back then I believe you can look forward to being discharged as soon as tomorrow afternoon."

"Great." Was the only reply that Xander could give knowing what he would be going home to in his present condition.

He had little doubt that his parents would be mad enough when they got the hospital bill for his stay here but when added to the fact that their son's injuries would mean they'd have to take care of themselves and you could bet he'd be lucky to survive his first night back. He could try to arrange to stay at the Buffy's home or even Willow's place but then he would have to come up with a reason why he didn't want to go home to his 'loving parents' and airing out that bit of dirty laundry was not an option. While he wasn't exactly thrilled with how he was treated by the two people who he should be able to trust above all others he refused to let the rest of Sunnydale find out about it. So far all he had to worry about among his peers and the rest of the town was being known as a loser and a member of the 'freak squad' as Cordy and her elite's liked to call the Scooby gang. If word got out that Alexander LaVelle Harris was the abused son of two abusive drunken parents he'd be belittled by one half of the town and treated as a charity case by the other half of town. Even his friends would likely treat him with kid gloves even if they only did it on an unconscious level. That was something he refused to have happen to him. He might not be rich like Cordy or a jock like Larry or even an undead pretty boy like Angel but he would sooner live out of a cardboard box than treated like an invalid or a child by anyone. He would not permit himself to be coddled! He would be treated with respect! Even if it was only by those he called friend!

"Is there anyone we should call to come pick you up?" Gordon asked no doubt with the intention of finding out if he had someone to help him through this funk.

"I'll call them myself when I sign the papers tomorrow." Xander replied as he looked out his room's window giving the doctor a subtle hint that he wished to be alone.

Doctor Gordon didn't look happy about it but without an official reason to stick around there wasn't much he could do if his patient requested some alone time. So with half-muttered instructions to the nurse concerning medication amounts and checking on the stitches the good doctor left the room. He pretty much ignored the nurse despite a few attempts on her part to engage him in conversation. She had even made a half-hearted attempt to flirt with him when she offered to come by later and give him a full body sponge bath. If this had been any other time and if he had been in the hospital for any other reason he'd likely have jumped at the idea but all he did in response to her overtures was to continue to look out the window. He heard her 'harumph' in response to her ploy's failure to get a rise out of him but let it go and went about her business checking his IV drip and the machines monitoring his condition. He doubted that she had been serious about her flirtation and had probably only done it because she thought he was the stereotypical teenage guy who would jump at the chance at such intimate contact with a beautiful young woman. However if he had actually tried to take her up on the offer she'd likely just respond with an 'only if you behave' or some other brush off like that. If she had done the opposite and actually gone through with it he'd likely presume she was another Mantis-Lady or something since he doubted the hospital would hire a woman willing to get pelvic with the patients. In any case he decided he would not dwell on such things any longer as it meant little to him at the moment.

Not when the images of blood and death kept creeping towards him from the dark corners of his mind.

An Estate, Just Outside of Sunnydale, Two Hours Later 

"So Kameko, how does our young warrior fare after his difficult test?" asked owner of the estate as he stood in front of a large plasma screen TV watching the test in question from start to finish over and over again.

"Physically the boy should make a full recovery my Lord. While he did lose a great deal of blood his friends were able to get him to the hospital in time." The Asian woman known as Kameko replied as she took of her Sunnydale General name-tag, "Mentally however he is hovering dangerously close to depression. His failure to save the family you selected for the test has taken a heavy toll on him. If he is put in a comforting environment surrounded by those who care for him he should pull out of it."

"What exactly do you mean by the words 'if' and 'should'?" the Owner asked without looking away from the TV in front of him.

"After Dr. Gordon's most recent visit with the young man he asked me to discreetly do some checking on the boy's parents." Kameko replied with more than a little disgust in her voice, "Suffice it to say that I think that Alexander has it even worse than Sōjirō had it with his family. Both parents are barely holding onto their jobs and those who know them openly call them 'drunken bastards'. I think it is safe to say that Tony and Jessica Harris do not limit their horrid behavior merely to drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol."

"You believe Alexander's parents abuse him?" the Owner asked without a trace of interest.

"Yes and I confirmed it by looking at his medical file. Up until the age of six he is recorded as having standard scrapes and bruises. After that though the severity of his injuries increased month by month with the worst being a broken arm." Kameko replied as she tried to speak in a more professional manner, "While the official cause recorded was something common the descriptions of the injuries along with the x-rays say otherwise. Given this evidence my Lord I believe his returning home would have a negative effect on his mental state and perhaps even result in permanent injury to his person."

To this the Owner simply stood quietly in front of the television for a few minutes before finally giving his response to her report.

"Thank you for your report Kameko. You are dismissed." The Owner stated in a manner one would expect between employer and employee, "However before you leave tell Mr. Udo that I wish to speak with him immediately."

"Of course my Lord." Kameko said as she bowed formally before turning around and leaving the room.

Once the door clicked shut and he could no longer sense Kameko's presence within what he knew was the limit her demonic ears could hear things he returned his full attention to the plasma screen TV in front of him. He had been reviewing the footage since it had been delivered to him two hours after the incident was recorded. He would have preferred it sooner however the man assigned to the task had also been told to remove all evidence implicating the target in the deaths of nine armed men. While he was far from wanting to do Alexander Harris any favors he didn't want the local PD to impede the resurrection of his old foe. To that end he had already sent Hiroshi to meet with Mayor Wilkens to broker a deal that would ensure that any of the demon-wannabe's plans didn't interfere with his own. While at last report there were a few details to be ironed out his right hand man had assured him that he would get everything asked for by the time phase two was ready to be activated.

With the threat of the local PD and the Mayor out of the way it was time to begin contracting the necessary help to bring his old nemesis closer to the surface. After viewing the footage of the test as well as the boy's behavior after waking up in the hospital he knew that he had finally found his adversary's reincarnation. The way he attacked, the fluidity of his movements and icy cold voice with which he had demanded the release of the final female victim had confirmed it. The methods open to him to bring his old enemy back completely were many but when he took notice of the calendar on his desk a grin grew on his face as an idea began to form. With each detail that he fit into its designated place his grin grew and he knew that he had indeed found the perfect means to bring the swordsman of legend back from the depths of history. All that would be required would be the locating and acquisition of certain items important to his enemy as well as a few items from nearby special effects studios. Once they were obtained all that would be needed would be for those objects to find their way into young Mr. Harris' hands on the night selected. True if the items required simply came into the boy's possession it would still leave something to chance as to whether or not he'd actually use them as prescribed but with a little manipulation of events he was sure the odds could be tipped in his favor.

Before he could contemplate how to arrange matters favorably for himself a knock at the door acquired his attention. It took only a moment for him to sense that it was Udo waiting outside to be verbally granted entry into the room. While the matter of the second phase of his plans for young Alexander Harris were important the mission he intended to send Udo on would be a nice diversion. The idea for the mission had come to him when Kameko had mentioned the vices and dirty habits of Alexander's parents.

_Perhaps it is time that I do my old enemy a favor_ The Owner of the estate thought with a smile, _for old times' sake._

Sunnydale General Hospital, The Next Day, Noon 

_Well it's almost check out time. _Xander thought as he looked at the clock next to his hospital bed, _Not a moment too soon because I don't want to be here a moment longer._

After Doctor Gordon's visit yesterday the man had made almost periodical visits every two hours or so and when the doc couldn't come he made sure one of the nurses walked into his room under some inane pretense. It had puzzled him for a moment until he took his own behavior into account and realized that he had been pretty much acting like a suicide case waiting to happen. After all depression and lack of reaction to a beautiful nurse offering to give you a full body sponge bath with her own 'special' touch was definitely a sign of the crazies so it was no wonder they got worried. Of course knowing this did nothing really to improve his emotional state or drive off the images that kept pulling cameos in front of his mind's eye but it did force him to act a little. After all if they continued to think he was a suicide risk than they might try and keep him here awhile longer or maybe even let their suspicions be known to Buffy and the others. That would lead to them behaving just like they would have if they had all found out about his home life. So in the end he had to act like his usual carefree Zeppo-self and hope that he did it well enough to fool everyone that needed to be fooled while reassuring those that could tell when he was faking it.

At the moment he was just finishing getting dressed in his normal clothes as there was no way he was staying in that drafty hospital nightgown any longer than necessary. Willow had brought the change of clothes over as he had taken to leaving a set with her just in case Tony did something to him that messed up his clothes before he headed out to meet the rest of the Scooby gang. So basically whenever his clothes got too torn or bloodied by Tony Harris he would quickly scoot over to Willow's place, sneak in her bedroom window and quickly change before walking around to the front like everything was normal. Aside from that there wasn't really much of his to toss into a bag to carry home. He picked up his shirt and began to slip it over his head when a sudden sharp pain in his chest stopped him in his tracks. It took a few minutes for the pain to subside but when it did he slipped the shirt the rest of the way down but being extra careful not to rip the stitches in his chest and back. It had been one of the things that Doctor Gordon had said he would have to endure for the next week or so. According to the Doc some extra strength Tylenol would be enough for the pain and that once the wounds had healed enough he would have to come back to get the stitches taken out. There would be scars on both his chest and on his back as well as on his left cheek but there was nothing the doctors could do about that. The wounds had been deep and while nothing crucial had been cut through or damaged it would take quite a bit of plastic surgery to completely remove the scars. Unfortunately plastic surgery cost money, a lot of money, and he doubted that his 'benevolent parents' would be willing to fork over that many Lincolns and Washingtons just for him.

He was just about to step outside his room to see if he could find Dr. Gordon and persuade him to hand over the discharge papers sooner than later when he noticed a flurry of activity in the hallway. Curious as it usually meant some serious demon activity had just gone down he decided to follow the orderlies and the others to see what was going on. After all if it was something big he might be able to overhear the nurses and doctors rattle off what the injuries were, what was needed to save the victims and just how serious the situation was. Once he had that info he would have something to pass on to G-Man later during the research session they would no doubt have to take down the demon responsible.

The shuffle of people were apparently heading towards the emergency entrance near the ICU where the ambulances always stopped when they were carrying truly critically injured patients. That didn't bode well for whomever they were carrying and it meant that the demon that had done it to them was particularly vicious. In vamp cases they just brought the bodies to the morgue and in terms of the more brainless demons the victims rarely lasted long enough to even get to the hospital. That meant that the demon that did this must have been both intelligent and sadistic as he would have to be smart enough to know what wounds to inflict to the cause the most pain but still give the victim time to get medical help. Those types of demons were the worst since to them killing their victims was never the objective. The pain, the suffering and the torment they could cause their victims. That is what egged those types of demons on. It would also be what would be at the forefront of the demon's mind when he eventually decided to tackle Buffy. That meant that Joyce, Willow's parents and most likely Giles himself would be on this demon's 'someone to torture' list.

_Well not if I can help it!_ He thought to himself as he turned the final corner to the emergency entrance to the hospital.

There was a fairly large crowd of hospital personnel standing near the door and they were so concentrated in some spots that he could barely see what was going on in front of them. He knew he missed the first stretcher that was brought in but judging from the hint of blood red he had seen on the normally pristine white sheets they put on the ambulance gurneys the victim had to be bleeding profusely. As the automatic door closed he tried to peek over the heads of the hospital staff to see who the victim was and just how bad the wounds were. Unfortunately he had the foul luck of choosing the side of the hospital where all the tall people had chosen to stand and look so if he was going to get even one look at the victim/s he was going to have to jump up on something. Looking around he saw a set of recycling bins lined up nearby and they did indeed seem strong enough to support his weight. So with a hop, a jump and some very iffy balancing on tipsy containers he finally managed to see over the heads of the staff gathered around the emergency entrance.

However what he saw was enough to cause him to lose his balance and land butt first into the trashcan positioned right next to the recycling containers.

"M-mom?" he whispered in disbelief as his mind became stuck on that one clear look he had gotten of his blood covered mother as the paramedics wheeled her into the emergency room.

She had been so badly cut up and bloody that he had almost not recognized her. If it had not been for the unique way she styled her hair and the shreds of her favorite nightgown that the paramedics had cut off of her that were still on the gurney he would not have recognized her. Her entire body was a mess of cuts and stab wounds and even though most of them had been covered up by the bandages placed on her by the medics the ambulance people would have had to mummify her to get them all. What really tossed him for a loop though was the certainty that existed in his mind that made him sure the wounds had been caused by a bladed weapon rather than by sharp teeth or claws. The lacerations were too straight and clean for them to have been made by teeth or claws. Cuts made by organic blades, teeth and claws were more jagged with a bit of tearing here and there. With the belief that no dumb demon could have made such clean cuts his theory about the sadistic yet intelligent demon was verified.

It was almost as if his body was operating without the benefit of his mind's assistance that he got himself out of the trashcan and when he looked around he saw that his fall had gotten quite a bit of attention. However before he could say anything to divert attention away from himself a higher (or lower) being decided to do it for him as the emergency entrance doors wooshed open again to admit another critical victim. While this one didn't deprive him of his vertical posture the affect it had on his brain was no less traumatic. Unconscious and in even worse condition than his mother had been, if that was at all possible, was one Tony Harris and judging by the behavior of the medics the elder Harris wasn't likely to live for very much longer. A thought shot through his mind as what he knew fell into a pattern that had him seriously wanting to run out the door and check on the gang. Both his parents, at the same time, had been attacked and the attackers had used bladed weapons that they wielded with significant skill and precision. While it may have been just a coincidence that they were harmed in such a manner so soon after his encounter with those ten armed men he personally thought otherwise.

_Could this be payback for what I did?_ He thought to himself as he moved over to one of the vacant chairs nearby.

With everything that had happened that night and his own guilt over not being able to save that family he had not given the men he killed a second thought much less considered whether or not they might have been working for someone. After all there were enough people and demons in this town that killed just for the sheer enjoyment of it so it was only in specific cases that the gang considered that there might be something more to it. Add to that the fact that any payback they might get from the demon community tended to be solely aimed at Buffy and the rest of them rarely had to worry about reprisals. In this case however humans were the enemies and he had been the one to kill them. That meant that if the men he had killed and the people who had done this to his parents were connected then it was his fault his parents were here.

_Not that I care about them but no one deserves to be tortured like that._ Xander thought as he took another look in the direction the medics had taken his parents, _Those two might deserve to be beaten until they're black and blue but not sliced up like so much fresh meat._

He was about to go and call the rest of the gang to see if they were alright or not when a hand was placed on his left shoulder and he looked up to find Dr. Gordon looking down at him.

"I suppose there's not much point in asking you not to look is there Xander?" Gordon asked rhetorically as he sat down in the next seat, "Nevertheless I am sorry you had to see such a horrible sight."

Deciding to focus on something other than what he had seen Xander asked "What happened to them?"

"The police are still investigating but from what the paramedics said over the radio your parents were attacked sometime early this morning." Gordon replied as he did his best to answer the young man's question, "In fact it was something of a miracle that they were discovered at all. Apparently the paper boy spotted blood trailing into the living room and dialed 911 as soon as he could."

That bit of info told Xander that whoever had done this had acted quickly to keep both Tony and Jessica Harris inside the house. He knew that the moment either of them had reason to believe that their lives were in danger they would not hesitate to abandon their 'spouse' and head for the hills. That would likely mean that there had been more than one person involved since there was no way a single person could have pinned down two adults no matter how drunk they had been. After all fear would have produced adrenaline and the adrenaline would have cleared their heads in a big hurry of any grogginess or fogginess. With these facts that the Zeppo began to wonder just who he could have pissed off and just how big a mess he had gotten himself into.

"I know you probably want some assurance that your parents will be alright but I'm afraid that I cannot." Gordon said and the graveness of the situation was written all over his face, "To tell you the truth I would consider it a small miracle if they lasted more than twelve hours."

"Dr. Gordon please report to the O.R. Dr. Gordon please report to the O.R" came the voice of a female nurse over the personal address system.

"Looks like someone needs your help." Xander said in a tone that hinted he would no longer be a very good conversation partner two minutes from now.

"Yes, so it would seem. I'll have a nurse bring your discharge papers here." Gordon said as he got to his feet, "I'll also inform the surgeon working on your parents that you're here so you can be updated on their condition."

"Thanks." Xander stated as he began to sink into the contemplations of his own mind.

He didn't even hear Gordon's footsteps as he walked away but then that isn't much of a surprise since how important could footsteps be in comparison to his parents being tortured to the brink of death and he himself responsible for the deaths of nine men. At the moment all that mattered was figuring out the puzzle that he had unwittingly stumbled into and finding a way to make sure no one else suffered or died because of him.

Sunnydale High School, The Library, Noon 

"Buffy! Buffy! Buffy!" Willow yelled as she burst into the library in the middle of the Slayer's debriefing over the whole fraternity Snake Demon thing, "Xander! Parents! Blood! Ambulance!"

Needless to say the mentioning of the founding guy member of the Scooby gang and blood was enough to derail the Slayer's butchered rendition of events at the fraternity house and focus both her and Giles' attention on the redhead. It had only been a day or so ago that Buffy had gone with a member of the fraternity to his frat house for a big party and wound up being the sacrifice to a snake-guy demon. It had turned out okay in the end with the snake-guy being dead, the frat boys being pummeled and everything. In fact the only sour point had been Angel refusing to go to the party with her by using some lame excuses like being too old and not being able to control his demony side when he got hot under the collar. In retrospect she probably should have chosen a safer way to deal with his denial of a date with her than to get drugged and strung up for some demon but she was still mad at the vampire with a soul. Even with the sweet 'want to go for coffee' thing he did after all the slayage was done with she still didn't feel like letting him off the hook for those lousy excuses. Still there'd be time enough to consider payback for Angel dodging her advances later because from the look on Willow's face there was something decidedly not of the good going on.

"Breathe Willow! Breathe!" Giles ordered as he went quickly to the young girl's side, "Now slowly tell us what has you so upset."

"I w-went to X-Xander's after class to get his book report for history class this afternoon." Willow replied as she tried to bring her breathing under control, "When I got there though the entire place was surrounded by police cars and forensic vans! I tried to get a look inside but all I could see was the front stairs and they were covered in blood!"

With this news the looks on both the face of the Slayer and the face of her Watcher became decidedly grayer as they realized what this likely meant. They all knew that Xander was still in the hospital even though he was due to be discharged today. This was no secret and would not be hard for someone to learn about if they really wanted to find out. That meant that whoever was responsible for the carnage at the Harris household had targeted Mr. And Mrs. Harris for murder instead. Given the less than savory reputation the two elder Harris' had about town it was quite possible that the person or persons responsible were human and thus outside the Slayer's jurisdiction. However given the town's history it would be better to cover all of their bases just to be on the safe side.

"Giles?" Buffy asked with a look on her face that showed she was deferring to him as far as a course of action went.

"We do not yet know the entire situation. Willow herself has just said as much." Giles said as he took his glasses off of his face and began to clean them, "I recommend that you go to your classes as usual this afternoon. I will contact some of the Council's resources here on the west coast to see if any of the … er… more colorful characters have been spotted near Sunnydale."

"What about Xander? He's gonna be pretty messed up by all of this." Willow said with her concern for her childhood friend written all over her face.

"You may go and keep him company at the hospital after school. The doctors are more likely to have something to share concerning Mr. And Mrs. Harris' condition by then." Giles replied as he placed his glasses back on his face, "Besides which I doubt that troll Snyder will be compassionate enough to allow either of you to skip your afternoon classes to go comfort him."

"Like I care what that impotent Nazi thinks about me!" Buffy declared at the thought of the Principal stopping her from going to her friend's side.

"True but perhaps you might want to be concerned about what he says about you? To you mother for example?" Giles asked rhetorically as he reminded his assigned Slayer that while Snyder could do little to her physically her mother was another story entirely.

This of course made Buffy stop in the middle of whatever Snyder-bashing she was thinking of voicing as she knew that while the troll's words might not mean much to her they could seriously harm her if they got back to her mother.

"Alright! Right after school we go to the hospital to see how Xander is doing." Buffy said as she reluctantly agreed to play it safe instead of simply tying Snyder up and tossing him in the janitor's closet for a few hours.

Or more.

With that Giles made the coughing noises universally used when you wanted to get someone's attention and when Buffy looked at him he pointed to the report on the snake-guy demon that still had to be written up.

_I'd almost rather chance Snyder!_ Buffy groaned mentally as she prepared to spend the remainder of her lunch hour going over every mind numbing detail of the slayage no matter **how** tedious the detail was to her.

Sunnydale General Hospital, Emergency Ward, Three and a Half Hours Later 

_How much longer are they going to be in there?_ Xander asked himself as he glanced at the door to the emergency ward's O.R for what had to have been the three hundredth time since he first sat down.

He had been there for hours waiting for any word about how his parents were doing and aside from the occasional calls of nature he hadn't budged an inch. While some might call his behavior that of a dutiful and loving son the truth of the matter was that if his parents … died … he'd essentially have no means to support himself. After all he was only fifteen years old and even if he sold off everything he might own or might inherit from his parents in their wills he'd still be in a pretty pickle financially. After all it was a common fact of life that funeral's were expensive even if you chose the cheapest pieces of crap available in terms of headstones and coffins. Not that he would stoop to his parents' level and be a cheapskate on a matter that serious of course so it was going to cost him quite a bit. So no matter how you looked at the situation it was in his best interests if they lived since it would only create more problems for him if they died. Not the most altruistic reasons but what can you expect when he knew he'd probably have to wait on them hand and foot when they got out of here as well as take any abuse they sent his way.

_My life sucks!_ He thought to himself as he kicked a piece of garbage that had been near his right foot.

Just as he was about to try and charm a few bucks out of one of the nurses for a snack from a vending machine the doors connecting the emergency ward to the rest of the hospital swung open and slammed into the walls of the hallway. Now some might interpret this as the arrival of an enemy or some rowdy nutcase from the psych ward but given the time of day it was the Zeppo had a much better idea of who was responsible. Getting to his feet he turned towards the doors and almost before he could get more than a few words out something nearly tackled him to the ground before it wrapped its arms tightly around him. He winced slightly as the pressure that was being placed on his chest and back was aggravating his wounds but he figured the person attached to him right now needed the release so he decided to let it go on for a bit longer.

"OhXanderI'msosorrytohearwhathappenedtoyourparents!Iwenttoyourhousetogetyourreportforhistoryandthepolicewerethereandtheyhadtheplacealltapedupand…"Willow babbled at what had to be a new personal best speed for her but he placed a finger on her lips to stop her in her tracks as he figured she'd run out of oxygen if she went for much longer.

"Easy Willow! I'm glad you decided to come down here and provide me a shoulder to lean on." Xander said as his voice began to tighten a bit at the amount of pain his chest and back were telling him about, "Still if you don't release this bear hug you have me in I don't think I'll be able to remain conscious to enjoy your words of comforty fuzziness."

"Oh! I'msosorry!Ididn'tknow!Areyoual-" Willow began to babble as she quickly detached herself from his person and began to do another babble lap in response to yet another worry being placed on her to do pile.

"Hey! I'm fine! Just watch the stitches alright." Xander said as he grasped Willow by the shoulders in an effort to calm her down, "I've already heard the lecture once from Dr. Gordon about popping them and I don't want to hear it again if I can avoid it."

This in combination with his lopsided grin was enough to take a load of worry off of his friend's shoulders and so with a few light hugs from Buffy and Giles they all sat down to talk about the situation at hand. They told him, a bit more thoroughly, about the situation at his house and what Giles' contacts had managed to tell him about the demons and mercs known to be in the state of California within the last forty-eight hours. From what the G-Man had to relate there were a handful of known professional killers in California at the moment who were known for getting 'carried away' with their work. The problem with blaming them with the attack on his parents was that none of them used blades on the job. They were all gun people or explosives people and most of them liked it better when their targets at least put up a decent fight. After all what is the use in going after prey that is not only easy to corner but would also spend most of the 'game' unconscious. Given his parents' usual drunken state, the fact that they were both out of shape and were cowards to the core and he doubted any merc would bother taking the contract. Even those that enjoyed inspiring fear in their marks would find Tony and Jessica Harris poor prey indeed. He related these thoughts to his friends but in a way that was more his 'everything I have learned I learned it from TV' way than a way that would indicate he put conscious thought into figuring everything out.

"While the ..um … source of your theory is ..um dubious I believe it does hold some merit." Giles said trying to make Xander's idea sound less ridiculous than it did, "Still if it was not a paid mercenary who attacked your parents then who was it."

"I think it might have something to do with the 'incident' after the exchange program's costume dance." Xander said seriously while doing his best to phrase things in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion in any eavesdropper's mind, "I managed to beat up quite a few guys that night. If they have friends maybe one of them is responsible for the attack."

"That still doesn't rule out mercenaries." Buffy said with a bit of confusion since she didn't see where her Xander-shaped friend was going with his words.

"Ah Buffy, ixnay on mercansay." Xander said while taking covert looks around the room.

The fact that saying things like mercenaries and attacks in a hospital within hearing distance of a dozen people was a bad idea caught up with her brain at that point and she looked like she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. Not exactly the best thing to wish for given that they were sitting on the Hellmouth but at least she now knew to be a little more tactful concerning what she said out loud.

"I don't think those guys were just a bunch of 'fun' loving guys with a bit of time to kill. Most of the guys that do what they do professionally are loners." Xander said as a certainty entered his voice that everyone but him noticed was there, "The fact that those guys were all together means that they likely belonged together as a group or maybe as a platoon in an army."

He made the mistake of saying 'an army' rather than 'the army' on purpose so that the others would understand what he was getting at but if any eavesdropper came up to them and asked questions he could just said he made a mistake. After all to switch 'the' with 'an' could be construed as an understandable mistake in anyone's eyes and given his no doubt infamous reputation as a slacker in school no one would blink an eye at the town doofus messing up like that.

Looking at the faces of the rest of the gang he could tell that they had all picked up on what he had been trying to get across to them and the implications had all of them distinctly worried. After all it was one thing if they were dealing with a mercenary fulfilling a contract since they could just take care of the person who put out the contract in the first place before he could zero in on the Zeppo. If he was the primary target to begin with and the Harris' were just attacked to inspire fear than they could still deal with the problem by taking out the employer. After all when you get right down to it mercs are just interested in the money and once that's gone they quickly lose interest in carrying out the contract. However if he was right and the men he killed were part of an army then the problem was a great deal bigger and the situation would get a great deal messier before it got any better. By killing nine of this unknown army's soldiers he had brought into question their skill and effectiveness in the eyes of those whom they served. After all if one teenage boy from California, Hellmouth or not, could kill that many without proper training or weaponry how good could the soldiers in the unknown army be anyways. In order to salvage their reputation and dispel any rumors about their effectiveness they had no other choice than to take him out professionally and skillfully. They had to prove that his victory over those men was the exception rather than the rule and that they were just as good as they have always been.

_So until the army goes belly up or I die things like what happened to my parents will keep on happening._ Xander thought as horrible images of Buffy, Giles or even Willow being cut up like his parents had flew across his mindscape, _I'm not going to let anyone hurt my friends! Anyone who tries to **dies**!_

"I will have to consult my sources to confirm this hypothesis of yours Xander." Said Giles as he had a look on his face that told them all how dire the situation was, "If it is true then it will at least cut the list of possible culprits down and give us a better idea of what to expect in the future."

"You mean besides boatloads of pain of course!" Buffy muttered in a snappy manner.

Xander could understand where she was coming from given that the rules of the Watcher's Council clearly forbid the Slayer from harming humans beyond what was necessary to render them unconscious. While that may work fine for your average street thug or some two bit warlock who only knew half of what a true magic user needed to know but for a soldier though it was a whole other situation. These guys would be in tip-top physical condition and be trained to kill very quickly and efficiently. Add to that the fact that they probably had more than swords, spears and nagintas in their arsenal the chances that Buffy would be able to hold their own against such men were pretty bad. Like every action flick or TV show he ever saw taught him if you leave an unconscious enemy at your back during a serious situation they will almost always come too just in time to get you from behind at the worst possible moment. While he knew that such a scenario was just a cliché of Hollywood he figured that just like every legend had a grain of truth to it so did every cliché.

"And that would be different from all the other problems we usually have to deal with how?" he asked sarcastically as the Slayer should well know that pain came with the job description when you decided to fight the good fight.

"True." Giles said in response as they all grinned slightly at the fact that Xander was quite right considering all that they had been through.

Xander was about to go on trying to improve the moods of his friends when the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. Turning quicker than he usually did he looked in the direction of the sound to find Dr. Gordon walking up to them with his O.R scrubs still on. However once the Zeppo's eyes locked on the man's face the clothes, the body and even most of the head itself disappeared leaving only the face for him to see. It was both funny and chilling how he had been thinking of Hollywood clichés a few moments ago because another one was square on the face of Dr. Gordon. On TV and in the movies it was usually done either from the doctor's point of view or from the concerned family waiting for news about a loved one. If it was the doctor he usually walked up to the family with a look that said honestly and truthfully 'this is the part of the job I truly hate having to do' from the moment he lays his or her eyes on them until a day or two afterwards. If it was the family that the scene was coming from, as it was in this case, the family would either see or hear the doctor approaching and for a moment a look of hope might enter their eyes. However that hope would turn to dread once they truly saw the look of defeat and sympathy on the face of the doctor. They would be able to tell just from the look on that doctor's face what the fate of their loved one was causing the women to break down into tears and the men to try the stiff upper lip approach. He honestly didn't know how he was going to react to the news so he said nothing as Dr. Gordon finally reached the group and looked down at him.

"Mr. Harris… Xander… I'm afraid I have some bad news for you." Gordon said with the 'I hate this part of my job' look firmly on his face, "I'm afraid neither Tony nor Jessica survived surgery. They're dead. I'm sorry."

_**Three Days Later, East Sunnydale Cemetery, **_

After the Funerals of Tony and Jessica Harris 

_I wish I could say that I'll miss them, that I actually feel something for them now what they're dead, but I can't._ Xander thought to himself as he stared down at the two coffins that had been lowered into the ground.

The priest who had been assigned to run the funeral had approached him beforehand to say a few kind words about his parents but he had declined. He knew he should have gone up there and at least tried to bullshit his way through the traditional 'they will be missed' speech but he knew it would take only a minute for his true feelings for his parents to come to the surface. As much as it was sad when someone died he couldn't erase the feelings of anger, hatred and disgust whenever he thought about how Tony and Jessica Harris had treated him growing up. He didn't even have one clear memory of them in his mind where they had behaved like halfway decent parents. No matter how hard he looked all his memories painted them as abusive drunks who cared more about where their next bottle of booze was coming from than whether their own son needed new shoes or something. In fact he would have to say that the only good memories he had concerning family was when he was spending time with someone else's family rather than his own. Whether it was Willow's family, Jesse's family or when Buffy and her mom moved in the Summers' family he had a good times with each and every one of them. The time he spent with them helped fill the gap that was left by his own parents' negligence and helped to keep a basically good kid from going down the same road as his parents traveled. Now though his present and his future was up in the air since he was too young according to the law to live on his own which meant he would likely be placed in foster care or something.

_That might mean taking me away from Willow and the gang depending on how many suitable foster homes there are in Sunnydale who would be willing to take in a sixteen year old guy._ He thought to himself as he finally managed to wrench his eyes away from the metal boxes that held his parents, _If… if I have to move away t-then I'll have lost everything._

Slowly he walked towards the path of pavement that ran through the cemetery where Mrs. Summers and Buffy were waiting by their car. After the initial shock of his parents' deaths had worn off Joyce had made the offer of letting him stay at their place until he decided where he was going to go from there. He had been surprised that Buffy had beaten Willow to the punch but his best bud had explained that given the more or less ambivalent attitude her parents had towards her he was better off at the Summers' home. Besides which, according to Buffy, they had a spare bedroom he could use that at the moment was only a storage room filled with junk and stuff. It would take a fresh coat of paint and maybe a few odds and ends but according to the Buffster it should be okay until he comes across something better. So that is where he had been staying for the last two days even though it wasn't much more than an empty room with a mattress on the floor at the moment. Still he had to admit that despite the somber mood that had permeated the last few days he had found it oddly… nice… to wake up and actually enjoy going downstairs for breakfast. It was a definite change from getting up before sunrise and sneaking a meal out of the kitchen before his parents came too from their latest drinking binge.

_I wonder what it would be like to wake up like that every morning? _He asked himself as reached the ten feet mark between him and Joyce's car.

"You gonna be okay Xander?" Buffy asked once they were all in the car together.

"I will be Buff, I will be." Xander replied as he looked out the window as the cemetery rolled by in front of his eyes.

To that she only nodded in acceptance as it was clear by the look on her face that she was reluctant to say more just in case her mouth said something before her brain had time to clear it for departure. Her mom was a bit smarter about that sort of thing since it seemed that Joyce was willing to wait until they got back to the Summers' home before getting into all the touchy-feely 'it will be alright Xander' stuff. He knew what they thought the situation called for because he had done the same thing when Jesse had been turned for Willow. The thing that was different in this situation though was that he wasn't all that bothered by the death of his parents and was only making it look that way so that he wouldn't look bad in front of everyone else. After all despite how funny it might look on TV no one liked a guy who came to a funeral only to speak ill of the dead and spit on their graves. Even Willow who had an idea of how bad Tony and Jessica Harris had treated him would not cut him any slack if he just went on with life as though nothing had happened. Everyone would expect some kind of reaction from him that was at least in orbit around sadness and grief. So he put on the necessary act and hoped that in a few days he could just drop it and get things back to the way they were. Back to where everyday was a new day and the biggest worry he had was either a math test or helping Buffy fight the new demon in town.

_After all who cares about two abusive drunks anyway? _He thought bitterly as the vehicle exited the cemetery.

The Treeline, On the edge of the Cemetary, Same Time 

_Well, well, well! It seems as though my old foe is closer to the surface than my **master** realizes!_ Thought the tall figure standing amidst the shadows cast by the trees above him.

He had been watching his prey ever since he first arrived and only now lost sight of him because he chose to stop, for now at least. However just because his enemy was no longer in sight he could still feel the rush of anticipation coursing through his veins as a result of what he saw when he looked past his foe's false 'grief'. The young man stood there right in front of the graves of the two people who should have meant the most to him and felt nothing now that they were gone. No emotion at all besides a desire to leave and never think about the loathsome beings slowly rotting in their coffins. That was the swordsman he remembered! That was the man he had wanted to kill him all those years ago back in Japan and in a few short days his old 'sparring partner' would be reborn into this world once more. Then a rematch that was almost one hundred and twenty years in the making would take place to decide once and for all who was the strongest.

_The last time we fought it was you who won but things are quite a bit different this time around!_ The Tall Man thought as he looked down as his arm and marveled once more at the strength it now possessed.

While awakened reincarnated warriors were common in his **Lord's** army he was unique. He had received a sizeable upgrade upon being successfully recruited and it made him much deadlier than he had been in his previous life. Now the insects that covered this world were even less of a threat than they had been in his last life and that made for a boring time indeed. It had been when he had first received word of his **Master's** hunt for their mutual foe that he had felt the first stirrings of excitement in his blood. It was like a mesmerizing song that pulled him along as though he had no will of his own. Just when he was about to surrender all hope of ever meeting a suitable adversary the chance for a rematch with **him** is dropped in his lap. He hadn't been told the exact reason why his **boss** was so determined to find his enemy's reincarnation but given that he was taking the charge of the project himself was all the proof he needed to know how important it was to him. It had been ten years since he had set out with the rest to find the one they sought and while a few hopefuls had managed to amuse him for a brief moment none had been the person they wanted.

With young Alexander Harris however he had known even before his **Lord** had that the search for their mutual foe's reincarnation was over. They boy had reacted quickly and decisively to his surprise and did so instinctively rather than so many others who would need to think before they reacted. That alone had told him that whoever the boy had been in a previous life had most definitely been a Japanese swordsman. However it was the fact that young Xander Harris had been able to know exactly **where** to place his katana in order to block the attack that told him who the boy once was. After all while some might say that the young man merely heard the sound of his blade cutting through air and used that to tell where the attack was coming from. He however knew the true reason why the boy had chosen that place to block as well as that type of block in response to the attack. The American had used a skill that no other swordsman save those of a specific style knew how to use and had done so on a subconscious level. That had been all the proof he had needed to confirm who the boy had been in a previous life and that had put a smile on his face. The video footage of the boy's fight with some of his **Master's** men was unnecessary as far as he was concerned but it was informative since it showed him how close his chosen enemy was to being 'awakened'.

_Soon my old friend. Soon you will return to this world and we can pick up out struggle where we left off last time._ The Tall Man thought to himself as he turned away intent on finding some amusement to satisfy his blood until the true fight was ready to begin.

Three Days Before Halloween, The Estate Just Outside of Sunnydale, Evening 

_I bloody hope I know what I'm getting into._ Ethan Rayne thought to himself as he knocked on the front door of the estate.

It was about the hundredth time he had thought that to himself with the only variations between each time being the level of profanity he had mixed in. It had been only a week ago he was in San Francisco enjoying himself with a little fear spell and glamour mix he had unleashed in a club. Something Three he believed was the name. In any case it had been entertaining to watch as the numerous patrons had suddenly found themselves surrounded in the one thing they feared the most. Of course none of what they were seeing was real, just a little bit of illusion and hallucination, but as far as they were concerned it might as well have been. In less time than it took him to take a shot of scotch civilization took a nosedive into a sea of chaos as friend turned on friend and wife turned on husband in a bloody show of savagery. Some simply dropped to the ground gasping for breath that as far as they knew they couldn't take. Most likely those people were the ones with a fear of water or perhaps a fear of being buried alive. They were perfectly safe but their brain was telling them that they were submerged deep under water or buried underground in a coffin. It was a basically case of the mind overriding the body and making what it perceived to be real a reality.

_A pity those three witches had to break the spell so quickly._ He thought to himself as the front door in front of him opened up, _Still I was lucky that they weren't bright enough to figure out I was responsible for the ruckus. Three perfect cases of beauty but not enough brains._

Still it had been fun while it lasted and it had been soon after that night that he had been approached by these people to create a bit of confusion and misery on the Hellmouth. It had been interesting to begin with as he had never been to Sunnydale himself but had heard numerous tales of what went on there. Add to that the proposed form that the employer wished him to use and he had gone from interested to eager in the blink of an eye. The element that had firmly locked in his decision to take the job however had been a single photograph of an aged man walking out of the local high school. He had a little less hair and more than a few wrinkles but there was no mistaking his old chum the Ripper. It had been almost fifteen years since they had last been together as friends and mutual experimenters in forbidden magic but he would know his old friend anywhere. After they had dropped out of contact with one another he had heard a few rumors here and there about what had happened to his old chum. Some said that he had dipped a little too deep into the darkness and that it had swallowed him whole. Another said that he had opened a grocery store in some out of the way village off the beaten path. The one that had the most evidence to back it up though was that Rupert had gone back to daddy with his tail tucked between his legs. The Ripper he had seen in the photo he had been handed confirmed that his chum had gone back to his father to join the family business that was the Watchers Council. While it was not a fact he had liked he figured he could pay his old friend a visit after his job was completed, see if there was any of the old Ripper left. Still given the reputation his employer had in the dark magic underworld it would be in his best interest to put the job first time and save the fun stuff for later.

Saying the usual polite platitudes to the Asian woman who greeted him and bowing just in case she preferred that guests followed her people's customs he mentally began to review what he had been told about his new, albeit temporary, boss. Unfortunately what he had been told had been more rumors and personal opinions than actual confirmable facts. Whoever this man was he kept information about himself and his organization on a need to know basis with those that he interacted with outside of the group. Anyone who attempted to learn more either vanished or came to a very messy and public end. Aside from those facts gleaned from 'need to know' situations the only other way of learning about the organization was to study the aftermaths of their various 'business ventures'. You could learn a lot by studying the aftermath of a battle or learning how a particular heist was accomplished. It told you what type of person planned the crime, what type of person committed the crime and above all it gave you a clue as to what the ultimate purpose of the crime was. Police forensic people did it all the time when they went over crime scenes looking for clues but given their limited grasp on reality it would take a true student of the dark arts to decipher the clues left by this organization.

From what he could decipher from the police records he had acquired on the black market and from others who wanted to learn about the organization in a safe manner the people in this estate made the Order of Taraka look like Catholic schoolgirls by comparison. There was not one person in the organization that wasn't a master in his her own field and all of them were lethal if you provoked them. While the majority of them were on par with the elite of the various super power nation's special ops teams the ones that the leader of the organization allowed in the same building with him were in a league all their own. At least that was the conclusion he had come to when he took the reports concerning the various incidents and tried to group them into classes of skill. Seven out of ten incidents linked to the organization were obviously done by normal men outfitted with the latest technology and a few magical trinkets for an extra edge. Two out of the remaining three incidents left evidence that indicated superhuman abilities and skills which the ordinary police attributed to some custom made gadget since they refused to believe a living being could do it on their own. He however knew the signs of demon warriors when he saw them and while he could not deduce the precise number and types of demons used he was certain that they could kill as easily as he now breathed. It was the final incident though that was making him rethink agreeing to the job he had been offered.

It had been a report concerning the massacre of a prominent Japanese family with connections to a remote village somewhere. While on the surface this family was considered to be just your average bunch of wealthy spoiled bluebloods in was said in darker places that they had a bloody history all their own. Some even suspected they had ties to the Yakuza and thus were left alone by the smaller fish in the criminal cesspool under threat of a painful death. However in the space of a single hour the entire family was torn to shreds with bloody corpses left scattered across their sizeable property. The two facts that made this incident stand out in his mind were a) the property in question was the size of a large university campus and b) the coroner report stated that the massacre had been committed with a single bladed weapon. By 'a single bladed weapon' the coroner didn't mean multiple men armed with a weapon that had a blade only on one side or something like that. The coroner stated rather bluntly in his report that one weapon, one sword to be precise, was responsible for killing each and ever member of this influential family. This of course confused the local police department since they couldn't figure out how one sword could be used to kill over twenty people when those same people had obviously scattered in every direction after the first murder. It wasn't like a relay race where a rod is handed off from person to person during the course of the competition. To kill all those people over so large an area in under an hour with only one sword was seen as impossible by the detectives placed in charge of the case and so they came up with some half-baked story along with some known killers to blame for the massacre. That way they could save face in the eyes of the public and quietly cover up the truth behind the scenes. Only a select few people knew the truth and one of those people fortunately had some money problems requiring him to sell anything of value that he had. That was how he had gotten the file on the incident that contained the truth about the massacre rather than the doctored file resting in a police filing cabinet somewhere.

Taking all this information in and painting it into a picture in his mind he had to wonder if he was making a smart move by taking this job. These people weren't greedy little men who believed that money would get them everything they wanted in life. Nor were they the dimwitted thugs who thought that they were the best because they could take a beating and still get the job done. No these were the deadliest of the deadly and worse of all he would be entirely at their mercy every step of the way. One screw up, one mistake, and he knew he'd be lucky if all they did was slit his throat and dump him in the middle of downtown Sunnydale. The only thing that allowed him to keep his cool was the relatively simple chaos magic he would be employing on this job. The spell was straightforward and the ingredients easy to come by so unless someone interfered during the actual casting of the spell he had nothing to worry about. It was like following a recipe in a book in that as long as you followed the directions exactly and knew what you were doing you had nothing to worry about. Still the relative safety of the spell did little to dispel the unease that he had been feeling ever since he first laid eyes on the estate as he drove up to it.

_Oh well, too late to back out now old chap!_ He thought to himself as he followed the Asian women who had let him in up some stairs and down a hallway.

Once they came to the door at the end of the hallway the woman merely bowed to him and left. He figured this must mean that this is where his employer was waiting for him and that the woman wasn't of sufficient rank to witness this meeting. Squashing his uneasiness as best he could and putting on his prankster's smile he reached out with his right hand and opened the door.

The room he beheld was an odd mixture of the modern with objects that were at least a century old if he was any judge. A sword collection, a plasma screen TV, a bookcase filled with volumes about Japan's history, a computer on a solid oak desk and to top it all off an antique cigar box. For some this might seem to clash to the point of being ugly but when in the presence of the land standing in front of the far window it seemed to come together quite nicely. The man in question was a bit taller than he was and wore an expensive tailored suit that practically screamed 'big money'. He had light brown hair with a short ponytail trailing down his back with only a ribbon to hold the hair in place. A plume of smoke rose up every once and awhile in front of this man indicating that he had already lit and was smoking one of his no doubt expensive cigars. All of it together spoke of a man that was in complete control and knew how to get what he wanted to matter how many obstacles got in his way.

_Not the sort of man you want to piss off that's for sure._ Ethan thought to himself grimly as he walked across the room before coming to a stop a respectful distance from the oak desk.

"Ah Mr. Rayne! Right on time I see. Good." The Boss said without turning around at all, "A punctual man is a dependable man I always say. After all if you don't care about something as precious as time can you honestly say you care about anything else."

"I suppose so. Truth be told I try not to concern myself with such philosophical trains of thought." Ethan said with his usual slick smile, "They give me a frightful headache."

To this small remark the Boss chuckled for a moment before asking rhetorically "A prankster through and through aren't you Mr. Rayne?"

"Definitely. After all what do pranks cause but large amounts of chaos?" Ethan asked meeting his employer's one rhetorical question with another.

"Indeed. If it is chaos you wish to cause to satiate your inner prankster Mr. Rayne then I believe you will get your fill if you perform your duties as instructed." The Boss said finally turning around and looking Ethan Rayne right in the eyes, "I've already taken the liberty of acquiring a space in downtown Sunnydale for you to set up shop as well as ordered a variety of costumes for you to use in the spell. The preparations should be completed by tomorrow afternoon so all you have to do is enchant the costumes and accessories so that they achieve the desired effect when the spell is activated."

"Thank you. However if all is as you say then why did you ask for this meeting?" Ethan asked as he was truly curious why he was here if there was nothing left to discuss, "Is there some specific alteration you want to make to the plan your assistant outlined for me?"

"More of an amendment than an alteration." The Boss replied as he walked up to his desk and lifted a large package from its hiding spot on the chair behind the desk, "There is a certain young man who will be looking for an outfit Halloween day at your shop. I want you to make sure he gets this costume and no other."

Reaching over and taking the package he looked down and saw a photo taped to the upper right hand corner. In the photo was a black haired teenager who appeared to be around sixteen years of age. There was also a sparkle that the photographer had managed to capture on film that told Ethan that this young lad had an inner prankster in him as well. Aside from that though he could see nothing obvious about the boy that would interest the head of such a deadly organization like this man had.

_Oh well mine is not to reason why and all that!_ Ethan thought to himself before saying, "I believe I can arrange this outfit to find its way into the hands of this fine young man without difficulty sir."

"Then I suggest you go to the shop and get some rest. Tomorrow will be quite busy for you I'm sure." The Boss stated before returning to the window and gazing out at the land spread out before him.

"Good evening then." Ethan said and without further adieu he began to make his way towards the door.

He got about three steps before he felt something fly past his ear and when he looked to where the object should have landed he saw a small dagger sticking out of the door. It was only with the realization of what had gone by his ear that he felt a sharp pain come from his left ear and a small trickle of blood slide down his face.

"That was to make sure you understand Mr. Rayne that failure isn't an option for you." The Boss stated with lethal intent in his voice, "To me failing in one's task is the same as being worthless and I **dispose** of worthless things Mr. Rayne. Painfully."

To those words the chaos mage known as Ethan Rayne left the room as quickly as he could while retaining as much dignity and self-respect as he could. He also made a promise to himself to only do jobs for people weaker and dumber than him from now on.

A wise move indeed.


	4. An Alls Hallow Eve Rebirth

Halloween Day, Noon, Sunnydale High School, Hallways 

"But I have to get to class!" came the sound of a teenage girl who was using the only excuse she could think of to get away from the prison warden glare of Principal Snyder.

The troll just shrugged and forced the clipboard and pen into the young woman's hands without restraint.

"Snyder must be in charge of the volunteer safety program for Halloween this year." Willow said as she felt some pity for the poor teen that had strayed a little too close to Snyder.

"Note his interesting take on the volunteer concept." Xander commented in an attempt to emulate his usual smart ass self.

It had been awhile since his parents' funeral and it had been a busy time to say the least. Just as he had predicted foster care came around two days later and informed him that since he was not old enough to live by himself. For a moment he had thought that his worst fears would come true and he would be taken away from Sunnydale to live somewhere else. It was then that Mrs. Summers did something he would always remember and be grateful to her for no matter what. Upon hearing that he might be forced to move away to live with some other family Joyce stepped right on up and said that she would be glad to have him become a part of her family. He and Buffy were absolutely floored by this as it seemed to come out of nowhere but as the seconds ticked by Joyce stood there and made no attempt to take back her words. A second later, after Buffy's brain had rebooted, she backed up her mother and said that she'd be glad to have a 'little brother' as she put it. He had pointed out that he was technically taller than her but she said that whether a family member got the 'big' or 'little' title attached to them depended on how long they were with the family. Therefore since he'd essentially be part of the family for less than a year that, according to her warped logic made him the little brother. Once the rest of them finished laughing at the logic and Buffy reigned in her temper at their reactions the people from foster care said that while they would have to do some checking to make sure everything was what it should be they didn't see any problem with making Mrs. Summers' wish a reality.

That had been about a week ago or so and the fact that they had yet to hear anything from them was beginning to make him worry a little. After all as far as he knew Mrs. Joyce wasn't the sort of person who would raise flags for the foster care people like other potential parents might if they had lifestyles that violated the acceptable parameters the foster group abided by. Other than that though he couldn't think of a single reason why they would be taking so long to grant Mrs. Summers' request. Needless to say the waiting was distracting him and making it harder to be his former jovial self. Not that waiting for the foster group's response was the only thing dampening his mood but it was definitely one of the most prominent.

Fortunately though the only one of the entire group that seemed to even notice that something was different about him was his best bud Willow. She hadn't approached him about it yet but whether that was because she wasn't quite sure if she was interpreting his emotions right or if she was simply waiting for the right opportunity he wasn't sure. Hopefully though by the time she decided to do anything about it Joyce would have a response from the foster group in her hand and it would be good news. He knew that if anything could brighten his mood and dispel the cloud of gloom that he had been dealing with ever since the student exchange thing it would be to become a part of a real family.

"What's the deal?" Buffy asked as she looked to see the girl concede to Snyder's intimidation.

"Oh, a bunch of little kids need people to take them trick-or-treating. Sign up and get your own pack of sugar-hyped little runts for the night." Xander replied as they reached Willow's locker.

"Yikes. I'll stick to vampires." Buffy said with a grimace as she imagined having to maintain control of a group of kids that would gradually become more hyped up with sugar as the day wore on.

Xander just nodded in agreement both just to avoid speaking and because he was sure that having to deal with a number of sugar crazy kids would **not** be a picnic. Unfortunately at that precise moment fate seemed to think that they needed empirical evidence to support their beliefs since a moment later Snyder's hand clamped down on Buffy's shoulder and spun her around.

"Miss Summers. Just the juvenile delinquent I've been looking for." Snyder said with his permanent scowl firmly on his face.

"Principal Snyder!" Buffy said in surprise as she tried to reign in her desire to deck the man for manhandling her.

"Halloween must be a big night for you. Tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples, one pathetic cry for help after another." Snyder said derisively as he pulled her over to the chaperon sign up table, "Well, not this year, missy."

Both he and Willow followed their friend to provide emotional support as well as excuses for the Slayer if she failed to squeeze her way out of Snyder's clutches on her own.

"Gosh, I'd love to sign up, but I recently developed carpal tunnel syndrome, and can tragically no longer hold a flashlight." Buffy said in a voice that was probably meant to be honesty with just a hint of sarcasm but wound up being sarcasm with just a hint of honesty.

All Snyder did was hold up a clipboard and pen before saying "The program starts at four, the children have to be back at six."

This was obviously Snyderise for 'I do not care if you are blind and in a wheelchair. You will be doing this' and judging by the look on his face he wasn't going to go easy on Buffy if she refused. So with great reluctance and a desire for revenge in her eyes the Chosen One, the Slayer, signed her name on the clipboard. Willow was getting a kick out of the sight of one of her strongest friends bowing down to someone not much taller than herself. He too was slightly amused but that came to a halt when Snyder grabbed two more clipboards from the table and shoved them into his and Willow's hands. For a moment both of them contemplated trying to come up with some kind of excuse to get out of it but a stern look from Snyder and loyalty to their friend won out and they signed their names on the dotted line.

Once their proverbial death warrants were sighed the Scooby gang moved on and traveled to the student lounge in an attempt to vent their displeasure without Snyder overhearing them.

"I can't believe this. We have to get dressed up and the whole deal?" Xander said with no little anger at being shanghaied by someone that looked like a Ferengi from Star Trek.

"Snyder said costumes were mandatory." Willow replied grimly though not as much as her two friends as she always tried to look on the bright side of things.

"Great. I was gonna stay in and veg. The one night a year things are supposed to be quiet for me." Buffy said with exasperation as she seemed determined to vent her frustration rather than look towards the proverbial silver lining.

"Halloween quiet? Oh, I figured it'd be a big old vamp scare-apalooza." Xander said with some surprise given what he thought vampires were like up until then.

"Not according to Giles. He swears that tomorrow night is, like, dead for the undead." Buffy said as they all plopped down on one of the lounge couches, "They stay in."

"Those wacky vampires! That's why I love 'em! They just keep you guessing!" Xander remarked with some amusement before standing up, "I'm going to get a soda. You guys want one?"

Both of them shook their heads in the negative so with a shrug he went over to the soda machine and started plunking in quarters.

Just as he was about to choose which brand he wanted a meaty hand came down on his shoulder and spun him around to find Larry the Jock standing in front of him.

"Hey, Lar. You're lookin' Cro-Mag as usual. What can I do you for?" Xander said not wanting to get the muscle bound brute mad.

"You and Buffy, you're just friends, right?" Larry asked before giving a quick glance in the Slayer's direction.

"I like to think of it less as a friendship and more as a solid foundation for future bliss." Xander replied as he had a bad feeling he knew the real reason behind the jock's question.

"So, she, she's not your girlfriend?" Larry asked as a bit of something was in his eyes.

"Alas, no." Xander replied truthfully while silently accepting the likelihood that the possibility of that kind of relationship with Buffy was pretty much dead and dust.

Walking around him Larry got himself into a better position to scope Buffy out before asking "Do you think she'd go out with me?"

Deciding to shut the jock down right now Xander replied "Well, Lar, that's a tough question to... No. Not a chance."

**Turning around with a bit of anger in his voice Larry asked "**Why not? I heard some guys say she was fast."

**This** remark hit Xander to the core as the thought of some guys spreading rumors that Buffy was a 'woman of loose virtue' as they might say in one of Giles' old books. It also made him want to set the record straight with at least Larry and hope that the cave jock would spread the word among his cronies.

"I hope you mean like the wind." Xander replied in a voice that most friends knew was code for 'think again or else'.

"Yeah, you know what I mean." Larry said clearly stating that not only did he believe the rumors but also that Xander believed them as well.

"That's my friend that you're talkin' about!" Xander said with hostility as all traces of his usual carefree demeanor left him.

"Oh, yeah? Well, what're you gonna do about it?" Larry said with a tone that told the Zeppo he ranked Xander's threat level somewhere below a slug's threat level.

_That's it! First he insults my friend and then he treats me like I'm a piece of dirt! _Xander thought with anger as he made the decision right then and there to start changing the way people looked at him.

It was then that he heard an inner voice that he hadn't felt within him since the night of the exchange student costume dance. Despite the suddenness of its reappearance and the fact that he hadn't 'heard' from it in so long he did not startle him as it should have when it spoke to him. It almost felt like it belonged there and it told him a way he could make a definite impression on the jock as well as hopefully scare him away from Buffy. Mentally grinning at the directions he was being given he decided to put the plan into action.

"I'm gonna do what any man would do about it:" Xander replied as he grabbed Larry's right arm and before the jock could do anything he twisted it behind the jock's back and held it there, "Kick your ass and make it look easy."

**Deciding to emphasize just how well he had Larry neutralized he threw all his weight into slamming the football player into the soda machine. Naturally the jock tried to power his way out of the hold but brute strength was useless against this move since it made it impossible to get the necessary leverage. Therefore as long as he kept an eye out for Larry's left arm he had the jock right where he wanted him so it was time to impart a few words of wisdom to the ape-man. **

**"Okay here's the scoop Larry so listen up! I could care less what you jocks say about the rest of the girls here but if I hear you insult my buds again I'll make sure you never use this arm ever again." Xander said in a tone that he had only used once before and he hoped he'd never have to use again, "Now get out of my sight!"**

**With those words he pulled the jock away from the soda machine, aimed Larry at the hallways and pushed him in that direction before letting go. The football player stumbled forward before getting better footing but when he looked back at the Zeppo Xander could tell that his opinion of the 'geek Harris' had undergone some serious revisions. Rubbing his sore arm the jock walked as quickly as he could away from the student lounge without making it look like he was running away from a school weakling. Satisfied that his message had been sent and that Buffy wouldn't have to worry about that moron sniffing after her he turned back to the soda machine to see if he could still select something. Much to his surprise though when he looked down he saw that a selection had already been made when he had slammed Larry into the machine. Picking it up though he found out that it was diet soda and almost put it back but instead decided to just hand it off to Buffy or Willow since girls were more concerned with watching their weight than most guys.**

**When he made it back to the couch though both of his buds were looking at him as though he had just kissed Snyder. Once he got over the whole 'yuck' factor that image produced in him he realized that Xander Harris the class clown and slacker wasn't the sort of person to stand up to Larry the Bully like that. Get beat up by Larry, yes. Beat Larry up, no. So seeing him humiliate Larry like that was probably strange to them even after all the things they had see fighting the darkness on the Hellmouth. Now he had to either distract them with a bit of humor or come clean about the little voice inside his head.**

**_Hmmm. Let's see. Make with the funnies and lie? Tell the truth and be labeled a crazy person?_ Xander thought to himself as he sat back down on the couch, _Gee, tough choice!_**

**"Um Xander? How did you do that?" Willow asked a little timidly as she was no doubt wondering what odd out of character behavior he'd exhibit next.**

**"Yeah, since when are you Mr. Tough Guy?" Buffy asked in a surprised and concerned voice.**

**It stung a little bit that Buffy thought him completely incapable of defending himself but he restrained himself with the knowledge that the shock of seeing him manhandle Larry had probably knocked her tact filter offline.**

**"Hey I've been watching you beat some undead butt for over a year now Buffster!" Xander replied with a strained lopsided smile, "Some of it must have rubbed off on me. Besides you know Larry's all talk."**

**This seemed to satisfy them as it was perfectly plausible that after seeing Buffy fight vampires and various demons that the average teenage guy might be able to pick up a few moves to use against a dimwitted jock. Deciding to seal away their doubt with a gesture of good will he passed the can of soda to Buffy.**

**"Oooh, diet!" she said happily as she pooped it open and took a sip.**

**Satisfied that Buffy wouldn't be giving him any more suspicious looks anytime soon he decided he'd better get out of there soon unless he wanted to give his bestest bud Willow time to grill him even harder. **

**"Well I think I'll go see if the cafeteria has anything halfway edible today." Xander said as he got to his feet and grabbed his bag, "I'll see you guys later at that new costume shop downtown, alright?"**

**Both nodded though Willow did a little more slowly with her concerned and inquisitive eyes so without delay he beat feet away from them as casually as he could.**

**Two Blocks from "Ethan's", Two and a Half Hours Later**

_Well here's hoping I can avoid the whole twenty questions routine._ Xander thought to himself as he approached the new costume shop.

He could see down the sidewalk that Buffy and Willow were waiting outside for him with the former tapping her foot in obvious impatience. Obviously she was in a rush to pick out her outfit and given that she wasn't exactly enthusiastic about escorting a bunch of kids around town there was only one thing that could make her eager to pick out a costume. Even now after he had pretty much given up hope that he and Buffy would ever get together as boyfriend and girlfriend he could not understand what it was about that animated corpse Angel that Buffy liked. The man brooded, he used **way** too much hair gel and he was by his own admission way too old for her since he was almost two hundred years old. Yet despite that Buffy, the Slayer of Vampires, **liked** him and was willing to toss aside her 'kill all demons' mandate because of that. Well there was the pesky fact that he supposedly had a soul somewhere in that dead body but personally he didn't see that as sufficient reason to let him hang around them. So Deadboy was on a path to redemption or whatever! So what! He should still have will power enough to keep himself from dragging Buffy into a relationship that's just going to end bad anyways. Still, for the moment, his friendship with Buffy and Willow mattered more to him than giving the 'vampire with a soul' what he deserved.

"What took you so long?" Buffy asked with impatience in her voice that matched the impatience in her posture.

"Had to take some cash out of my savings account." He replied as if completely oblivious to his friend's impatience.

Taken slightly aback by his nonchalant response to her impatient tone of voice it didn't take Buffy long to shake off her ill mood and focus on what they came to this store for in the first place. With no further words to be spoken the Scooby gang entered the store and beheld a place filled with every type of costume and costume accessory they could think of. All the classics were there like a Dracula vampire as well as the wart nosed witch costumes. There were even a few costumes that looked like they were based on characters from the movies or television shows. He even thought he saw a few examples of cosplay costumes near the rear of the store as well. A Duo Maxwell costume, an Alucard costume and surprisingly enough a pretty decent Kurenai ninja outfit as well. All in all it was a pretty great selection and while he might not have a lot of money to splurge on an outfit thanks to his parents' deaths he did have quite a bit more than he used to have. Still given his limited monetary means at present he should probably purchase efficiently here and not fly too far off the handle when choosing his costume.

"So what now?" Willow asked as she gazed about the room, "Do we stick together to look for our costumes or split up?"

"Better to split up. We don't have a lot of time before we have to be at the school to pick up our group of bra—I mean kids." Buffy said quickly changing what she was going to call the children they'd be chaperoning tonight into something a little nicer.

"Okay. Back here in twenty minutes?" Willow asked looking back and forth between him and Buffy.

A nod in the affirmative from both the Slayer and the Zeppo settled it and so they split apart going to whatever section of the story caught their interest. For him it turned out to be the cosplay section since not many people knew what cosplay was in first place and because he had watched a few Anime shows on his own in the past. Not that he would tell any of his friends than even under pain of Twinkie deprivation of course. Still it would be better than what he had planned on doing for Halloween back at the beginning of the school year. Back then he had known that even if he scrimped and saved ever nickel, quarter and dime he could get his hands on without getting a beating from Tony the best he'd be able to manage would be a toy gun and some used clothes from an Army surplus store. **He'd go as a generic soldier, a lieutenant if he remembered the rank insignia on the outfit he had eyed at the army surplus store correctly, and try to be satisfied with that. Now though he had some actual cash on his side so he could do a little better than a plastic kid's toy and some used duds. **

**_Still leaves the question of 'what to get' doesn't it?_ He thought to himself as he continued to look about the section of costumes for something that might suit him for tonight.**

**He completely ignored the costumes that had to do with demon characters like Alucard and InuYasha since the former represented a species he hated and the latter reminded him a little too much of the nightmare that started his recent string of problems. Moving along he spotted an outfit that belong to Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing but the braided hair that the pilot fussed over in the series would also cause him problems if any of the school bullies spotted him. Despite the fact that many notable movie and TV stars were considered cool and had such tails of hair lying down the center of their backs on him it would make him look even odder than usual. Next there was a male ninja outfit from the Naruto series but there was nothing distinctive about it that helped him narrow it down to a specific character. He put a big 'uh-uh' in front of that outfit because it strayed too close to the whole 'soldier' look he was hoping to do better than Halloween night. It wasn't until he came upon an outfit with a long old style trench coat, bandana and fedora that he thought he might have finally found what he was looking for. Examining the tied to one of the buttons on the jacket he found that it was a costume based on a preliminary outfit to be used in the making of a Van Hellsing movie. Further info written on the tag said that this specific outfit was eliminated from consideration because it did not allow the actor sufficient freedom of movement. **

**_Well it's not like I'll be helping Buffy fight any vampires tonight and I'm sure that G-Man would have warned us if there was an apocalypse on the way._ Xander thought to himself as he turned over the tag to look at the price attached to the costume.**

**"Can I help you with something young man?" asked a male British voice behind him with a voice that sounded like the person was tired of appearing so cheerful.**

**Unfortunately for Xander despite the lack of hostility in the man's voice it still caused him to jerk around causing him to take the tag attached to the costume with him. Now most people would expect that the plastic wiring tying the tag to the costume would snap with such a sharp jerking movement. Sadly most people would be wrong since the manager had apparently not skimped on the quality of the wiring because where the tag went so did the button it was tied to as well as the coat itself. This lead to a chain reaction ending with the entire costume as well as the dummy that was clothed with it to tip over and fall to the ground. For a moment both Xander and the man who was presumably the owner of the shop merely looked at the false man lying face down on the floor of the store. Then they both looked at each other and the Zeppo was worried for a moment that he'd wind up paying for more than just the costume before he left the store. However the man then did something that Xander did not expect by bursting into a jolly laugh that seemed genuine in nature. **

**Once the man calmed down some he said "I'm sorry if I startled you young sir. I'm afraid that I cannot prevent myself from doing so to just about everyone no matter how hard I try."**

**Recovering his wits Xander did his best to set the wooden man wearing the costume back upright before saying "No problem. So how much for this costume?"**

**"Normally I would charge at least fifty dollars for a costume like that as I acquired it straight from a Hollywood studio and because it is the only one of its kind." The costume shop Manager said as he went over to examine the outfit for damage, "However for you I think I can give a discount and mark it down to about thirty five dollars and fifty cents. How does that sound?"**

**The drop of nearly fifteen dollars in price had Xander suspicious as it did not exactly feel right that someone who had just opened for business would do anything to decrease profits. **

**"Fine except that it sounds little weird that you'd hand me such a good deal so soon after opening the place." Xander said in the hope that the man would give him a satisfactory reason for doing so. **

**"Perhaps but I find that if I give people goods deals now on the one night of the year when costumes are so important then they will remember my store all the more." The Manager stated like a true businessman, "If the memory of this place becomes as strong as I expect it will people will forget overpriced places like Party Town and come here instead."**

**_That seems logical._ Xander thought to himself as he considered the store manager's words.**

**It was true that the prices at Party Town were quite steep and given the limited selection it had if word got around that a store with reasonable prices and a wider selection was around then business here would definitely pick up. It would definitely make up for any money the place lost by giving discounts to certain customers and might just manage to put Party Town out of business. With his suspicion suitably dispelled he decided that he'd better get a move on if he wanted to meet up with the guys back where they split up. **

**"Alright then. I'll take it." Xander said while jerking his head slightly in the direction of the Van Hellsing costume.**

**"Very well young man. Just let me take it in back so I can take it off this dummy and pack it all up for you." The Store manager said as he grabbed the wooden man wearing the costume by the waist and lifted it off the ground, "There are a few other accessories that go with the costume but I've kept them in back just to make sure no child hurt themselves with them by accident. It will just take me a few minutes."**

**"No problem. I'll just wait by the cash register." Xander said with a nod and his patented lopsided grin.**

**"See you there then." The Store Manager said as he began to navigate through the crowd of costume shoppers to a curtained off back room.**

**_Back Room, "Ethan's", One Minute Later_**

**_Time to make the switch._ Ethan thought to himself once he was certain that the curtain blocking off the back room was firmly in place. **

**When he had started setting up the shop he had toyed with the idea of just putting his employer's one costume out on display in the hopes that the young man marked to wear it would choose it on his own. However that plan got tossed because there was always the chance that someone else would choose it and that could not be permitted. His employer had been quite blunt that if his chosen target did not receive this particular outfit he would have a painful death to look forward to the next day. The next plan for doing his job was what he was doing right now: wait until the boy chose his costume himself, make up some excuse for taking where the young man couldn't see it and then switch it with the box he had received at the estate. He would have to remain here for a few minutes in order to make it believable that he was gathering costume accessories as well as packing the costume the young American wanted. After all if he merely went in one minute with a costume and came out less than thirty seconds later with a box than it would only arouse the young man's suspicions. Besides he wouldn't be spending the time just standing in the back room waiting for the right amount of time to expire. Instead he would be putting the final touches on the enchantment that the chosen costume would require in order to fulfill its task later tonight. Most of the foundation for the spell had already been completed and it would only take about five minutes for him to complete the last part of the enchantment. Placing the box on a long table and putting the necessary magical ingredients for the final part of the enchantment he was almost ready to begin when a whim of chaos struck him and made him pause before he could pick up the first vial. **

**_My employer was rather vague about the specific details of the spell aside from the fact that one specific American teenager should get one specific costume._ Ethan thought to himself as he rode the tide of chaos building in strength inside of him, _I wonder if my employer would get angry if I __improved the spell a bit. It would not change the overall effect of course but it might indeed make things a little more interesting tonight._**

**For awhile a war was waged within him between his fear of what might happen if he angered his employer and the heights of chaos that might be reached if he tweaked the spell a little for this one costume. It was in moments like these that Ethan Rayne, Chaos Mage, was truly a servant of that particular brand of magic because one never truly knew what choice he would make until it was actually made. True unpredictability, the chaos of indecision, was what truly made him dangerous and while instincts like self-preservation might curb his chaotic tendencies it did not lessen the threat he posed to his enemies. So in a situation like this even he was unsure of which path he would choose until it actually clicked in his mind and all other possibilities disappeared. It might have seemed to the outside observer that only a few seconds passed but on the inside of the Brit it was more like hours. In the end though it was the man's own selfish desire for amusement in the service of chaos that won out over the warnings of his employer and so his choice was made. **

**Moving away from the table that held both the chosen costume and the ingredients for the final portion of the spell he went over to a large chest that was the one thing he took with him wherever he went on his travels. Anything else he might need for his ventures were easily obtainable at any number of occult and magic stores that served the true practitioners of magic rather than the vapid pathetic wannabes. The chest on the other hand contained talismans, artifacts, ingredients and books that were extremely hard to come by and in some cases one of a kind. They were things he had acquired over the years whether is was fairly using money or less than fairly like taking off with the item while two power house magic users killed each other. Some were even acquired by defeating the previous owner in a duel of magicks and while some were worth the pain he went through some he got rid of as soon as something better came along. It was from this collection of oddities and prizes that he decided that he would choose his addition to the costume spell he had been asked to cast tonight.**

**_Now what to choose, what to choose?_ Ethan asked himself as his eyes surveyed what was available to him.**

**The young man was likely going to get into quite a few fights given the costume he would be wearing which meant strain on the body as well as the mind. Add to that the variety of creatures and beings that would be made real tonight and the chances of the young man surviving as only that which the costume was supposed to represent were slim. The boy needed an edge, something grand, that would make up for any shortcomings the original chosen costume possessed. Yet at the same time it would need to be subtle so in the event he learned later that tinkering with the original plan was something that his employer would take badly he could easily come up with an excuse for if he had to. After all if it was something subtle he could explain it away as 'an unforeseen side effect of the Hellmouth' or something equally plausible. It took him a few moments but eventually his eyes hit on something he had acquired during his time in China. One of his more rare items and one that he was reluctant to part with but with a shrug of his shoulders he decided that 'there was no time like the present' as the Americans often said and took it out of the chest. **

**Better get moving or else the young man I must give this costume to might decide to take his business elsewhere. Ethan thought as he began casting the final spells of the costume enchantment on the costume for which this very special night was centered around. **

**The Cash Register, "Ethan's", Two Minutes Later**

******"Took you long enough." Xander said with some irritation as the store manager finally arrived at the cash register with his boxed costume.**

******"Sorry. There were a few bits and pieces that were harder to locate than I had thought." The Store Manager said as he began to enter the reduced price of the outfit into the cash register, "Still I think you will find it well worth the wait when you put it on and look at yourself in the mirror."**

******Handing over the money he had brought with him for the outfit he picked up the box and for a moment was surprised at the weight. He had taken a good look at the Van Hellsing outfit before the Owner had startled him and seemed odd that with the addition of a few accessories that it could be made this much heavier.**

******"Just what did you put in here? It feels heavier than it looked on the dummy." Xander asked as he picked up the bag containing the boxed costume. **

******"A collapsible crossbow that can be hooked onto the belt, a whip that can be tied to the belt on the side opposite the crossbow and some metal crosses." The Store Owner replied with his trademark 'happy businessman' smile on his face, "After all Professor Van Hellsing was something of a legend in hunting down demons and vampires. It just wouldn't do to have you go out tonight 'unarmed' so to speak."**

******"Makes sense." Xander said as he thought of how much additional weight a crossbow, a whip and some crosses would make when added to the weight of the outfit itself, "Thanks for the outfit anyway!"**

******"Oh it was my pleasure to aid you in acquiring an outfit you liked." The Store Owner said never losing his smile.**

******Pausing for a moment as he thought he sensed something more to the smile than what was on the surface Xander looked at the owner and considered the possibility that the man was up to something. After all just because the vamps were going to be staying in tonight didn't mean that the Hellmouthy phenomenon would take the night off as well. Black magic, ghosts and supernatural activity in general might very well start a scar-a-palooza like he had thought the vampires would given that so many potential victims would be on the street tonight. Was this guy setting everything up to try something? **

**_Nah! I'm just letting my Sunnydale paranoia run away with me._ Xander thought to himself as he resumed his walk back to where he'd meet up with Buffy & Willow. **

**It didn't take long to find them and he arrived just in time to catch the tail end of a conversation Buffy was having with Willow. **

**"**Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you." Buffy said encouragingly although from the look on the redhead's face it wasn't having much effect.

"Hey, Xander!" Willow exclaimed happily as she was no doubt glad for a way out of the uncomfortable conversation Buffy had been having with her, "What'd you get?"

**"Oh just a little something I managed to get at discount." Xander replied as he lifted up the bag a bit to show them what he had gotten, "But you'll have to wait until we head out for the school to see it."**

**For a moment it looked like Buffy and Willow both were going to pester him until he told them what he'd be dressing up as but then all of a sudden something caught the Slayer's eye and the attention of both young women was diverted elsewhere. Without saying another word Buffy walked over to another section of the shop and it was only after a few moments of looking to see where she was going that he discovered what had captivated her attention so much. It was a red dress that looked like it was at least a century out of date as well as something entirely too frilly for his liking. However given how much it clashed with what the Slayer usually wore and liked he didn't need to be as smart as Willow to know who she wanted to wear it for.**

**"Earth to Buffy! What's it about this bulky outfit that has you so zoned out?" Xander asked in an attempted to knock her out of her vacant stare stance. **

**"**I'm sorry, it's just... Look at this." Buffy replied without taking her eyes off of the dress even once.

"It's amazing." Willow said in appreciation for something that seemed like it belonged on a queen or a princess.

It irritated him a little that Willow was reinforcing Buffy's feelings for Angel by encouraging the Slayer in this sad attempt to gain the corpse's favor. Didn't Willow realize that a relationship between a vampire and a Slayer was doomed to failure from the beginning? Didn't she realize that this would only cause her first female friend terrible pain? It would be better to simply cut the developing relationship right then and there making it a clean break. He wouldn't mind as much if Deadboy stuck around to help out whenever something apocalyptic went down but any touchy feely emotions between the vamp and the Slayer could not be allowed. Contrary to what the others might think if they heard these thoughts he was no longer jealous of the dead head in terms of a rival for Buffy's affections. After what she had done at the beginning of the school year at the Bronze, using him to make Angel jealous, he doubted that there'd ever be anything besides friendship between them again. That didn't mean however that he would ever stop giving Deadboy trouble or that any future boyfriends would be spared the 'shovel and lecture' treatment. In any case though he decided he wouldn't stand here and watch her gush over her latest course of action in wooing that walking mass of dead flesh and bones.

"Yeah well I think I'll head back now and start getting ready for the whole Halloween chaperoning thing." Xander said as he half turned towards the front door of the shop, "From the way the owner of this place described my costume it'll probably take me longer than you guys to get ready."

"Yeah … okay. See ya." Buffy said almost distractedly as she only glanced at him for a moment before returning to the dress she had come to like so much.

"You sure?" Willow asked with some concern in her eyes.

"Yeah. See you back at Buffy's place." Xander replied and without another word began to make his way though the crowd to the front door entrance/exit of the costume shop.

**_Summers Home, Thirty Minutes Later, Xander's Temporary Room_******

**_Alright! Time to get all dressed up so when Buffy and Willow get here all I'll have to do is wait for them to get ready._ Xander thought to himself as he placed the box down on his bed.**

**It was still a little weird for him to call this small bed that Mrs. Summers had gotten for him 'his bed' consider that he had staying here for less than two weeks. Still if everything went alright with the foster people concerning Joyce's desire to take him in he would have all the time in the world to get used to the idea. A warm feeling filled him up every time he thought about the idea of becoming a part of a truly loving family. It would be a welcome change from what he had been forced to endure with Tony and Jessica Harris. Who knew what the future would have in store for him if he became a part of the Summers family? It would be such a drastic change from what he was used to that he honestly didn't know where things would go from here. Oh the basics like graduating from high school and getting a job were there but that was only because that was the course that almost every teenage American took. Aside from those two basic choices he really didn't know what he would do with his life or what he would choose to become. **

**_One way or another it ought to be interesting!_ Xander thought with some amusement as he opened up the box so he could get dressed in the Van Hellsing costume.**

**However when the lid of the box was moved out of the way to the point where he could see the contents all the warm feelings he had been experiencing turned ice cold as items from his most terrible nightmare became a reality. Inside the box was not the Van Hellsing costume he had chosen and thought he had purchased at the costume shop at all. Inside the box sat a gray hakama, a pale gi, blue haori, black leather hand-guards, a pair of sandals, brown tabi, a light-red-almost-completely-orange long-haired wig and a small plastic container with no label on it. Seeing these items his mind instantly flashed back to the nightmare he had experienced the night after the field trip to the museum at the start of the whole student exchange thing. More than anything else the image of the last man he fought before waking up, the man with the glowing golden eyes, came up most often. For a long while he stood frozen to the spot, unable to think or do anything, staring at what had been the stuff of dreams for him until he opened the costume box. It seemed beyond belief that something that had haunted his thoughts off an on for the last few weeks would suddenly appear in front of him as tangible and real as he was. It was when he thought of his dreams becoming reality that his might flashed back to the weight of the box when he had picked it up from the 'Ethan's' store manager. Taking in the contents of the box that he could see he knew that there was no way that the items he saw now could account for all of that weight. **

**_Unless…_ he thought to himself as a possibility blinked into existence in his mind that only stayed a possibility for a moment before his mind was certain it was the answer. **

**Slowly and carefully, his need to find out if he was right being the only thing preventing him from walking out the door immediately, he steadily removed each item from the box until bit by bit his suspicions were confirmed. At first all that he could say for certain was that there were two oval shaped rods in the box made out of smooth pieces of wood painted black. Then a little later he found out that one was actually a little bit shorter than the other one was. It wasn't until the last item, resting at the very top of the box, was removed that the two items were revealed to him as clear as day. However with his suspicions revealed as fact so solidly the chill in his blood only grew colder as his eyes took in every detail of the two objects. Having seen almost identical ones at the museum exhibit weeks earlier he knew that the longer one was a katana and the shorter one was a wakizashi. Both weapons appeared to be in perfect condition with not a single sign of wear and tear on either of the sheaths nor the handle grips or the pommels. If he had to make a judgment call he might say that these swords had been freshly made no more than a few months ago and had been laid aside specifically to go with this costume.**

**_Of course that's just plain crazy talk…_ Xander thought to himself before remembering something important, _…unless of course you live on a Hellmouth in which case 'crazy' is pretty much a given for everyone to one degree or another._**

**With that fact being a reality he recalled his earlier suspicions concerning the store manager and wondered if perhaps he might be associated with the men he had killed after the costume dance so long ago. After all who else would arrange for him to get an outfit like this as well as weapons similar to the one he used to kill over five people. Did that mean that they planned to attack him sometime tonight and made sure he got this costume as some kind of message? If they did plan to attack him the question became when and using what method of attack. Would they attack him while he was chaperoning the children around for trick or treating? Or would they wait until afterwards and catch him on the way back to the Summers' home? Would they attack him using the same weapons as they had used to cut down that Japanese family or would they splurge and use modern guns and explosives? Shaking his head in frustration he knew that there was no use fretting over something he couldn't possibly predict. He knew next to nothing about the group he had fought with the night of the exchange program costume dance aside from their skill with weapons a century out of date and their lack of anything resembling basic human morality. Without more information all he would do by worrying like this was get emotionally worked up and spread some anxiety to Buffy and the others when they eventually picked up that something was wrong with him.**

**However that still left him with the conundrum of what to do with the costume that the owner of "Ethan's" has slipped him in place of the Van Hellsing outfit he had thought he had purchased. Should he wear it go about his business like nothing was the matter or should he toss it in the trash like his more emotional half was yelling at him to do. No. If he did that the people responsible for getting it into his hands might get miffed that he didn't play along with their game and use a somewhat blunt method to tell him they were not to be defied. For all he knew if he didn't wear the outfit like they wanted they might manipulate Snyder into casting him in a school play centered around eighteenth century Japan with a 'realistic' sword fighting scene thrown in for fun. It would probably be a lot worse than that but his mind just wasn't up to overheating itself trying to anticipate just how bloody ruthless the bad guys would be to him to make sure he got their message. With a sigh of resignation he decided that he might as well play along for now. If it did turn out that they intended to ambush him tonight while he was chaperoning the kids he'd at least be armed and if Lady Luck wasn't still mad at him he just might be able to win the fight without any casualties on either side.**

**On the plus side at least he knew how to put the outfit on this time around since he remembered just about everything Ken'ichi had said to him when he had tried to get the spare costume the exchange student had given him on. There were a few extra articles of clothing and such that had not been a part of his costume dance outfit but he found that once he got the hang of the items he did know how to put on it was easier to figure out the rest. In all it took him about ten minutes to put on the main articles of clothing leaving only a few odds and ends to put on as well as the two weapons he intended to save until last. Picking up the leather armguards he placed the first on his right forearm and after pinning the item in the right position by pressing his forearm against the edge of the box he strapped it in place. Once the same was achieved with the other arm he took the loops at the front end of each guard and slid the middle fingers of the arms they were strapped to through said loops. Testing the feel of the armguards to see how comfortable they'd be on him he was surprised to find out that there was no discomfort coming from them at all. If he didn't know better he might almost say that they actually felt familiar, comforting, on his forearms. Kind of like putting on a pair of gloves that felt exactly like another pair you once wore a few years earlier. **

**Next came the light-red-almost-orange haired wig and that was a bit harder to figure out as the first few times he tried it on it felt like it would fall off. It wasn't until he noticed the small metal clip on things along the inner edge of the wig that he realized what was supposed to hold the mess of hair in place. It proved to be about as easy as trying to button up a shirt one handed to lock all the clip-on things onto a secure clump of hair but eventually the wig was secure enough that it would take a pretty strong yank to get it off his head. It was a spur of the moment decision though that caused him to take one of his old black belts, snip off an inch or two of it off including the buckle and then use the piece to tie the long mess of hair into a half-assed ponytail that sat high on his head. It wasn't anything crazy like standing straight up vertically in the air but rather it was arranged that if someone were to draw a straight line the pony tail would line up perfectly with the middle of his nose. It was roughly in the same spot that Ken'ichi had tried to put that topknot thing with his hair when the exchange student had gone to the dance dressed up as a traditional samurai. This way at least he might not get confused quite so much for a girl since only buff or rich or buff rich guys grew their hair this long and had said long hair done up in a cool looking ponytail a la Duncan MacLeod of Highlander fame. Add to that the fact that Halloween was the one night of the entire year when you could dress like a complete ass-clown and not be ridiculed for it the next day. **

**Then he came to the third last part of the outfit that he would have to put on which was the mysterious plastic case that was roughly the size of a harmonica but was rounded into half-circles at either end. The only reason he could think of for the item to be in a plastic case rather than just packed in the box like the clothes and armguards was that this piece of his outfit needed to be kept clean. With his curious nature getting the better of him he picked up the plastic container and gently opened it up. It was with some surprise and a little interest that he found two contact lenses inside soaking in lubricating solution or something. He himself had never seen contact lenses in person as no one he knew had eye trouble but he had seen enough commercials for them on TV that he knew both what they were for and roughly how to put them on. Carefully picking one up he saw that it was tinted a violet-purplish color which he imagined was meant to make his irises appear to be that color when he put them on. Looking at the contact from various angles he was surprised to find that when light was prevented from hitting it and it was in darkness or shadow it somehow managed to change color going from violet to a golden amber color. An odd little feature for the contact lenses to have but one that made one fact perfectly clear for him above all else. Whoever the manager of "Ethan's" was working for they knew about his nightmare somehow and knew enough to have this costume prepared for him. How this was possible he didn't know but he suspected that either they had a precognitive person with them or were responsible for him having it in the first place. The idea that somehow someone was able to enter his mind and induce such realistic nightmares in him scared him badly. After all if they were capable of a nightmare like that who knew if they could make such dreams even more vivid and realistic than his nightmare had been for him. **

**_Something tells me when those samurai rejects finally stop playing around and come right at me I won't like what they have to say._ Xander thought to himself as he walked over to a mirror hanging on one of the walls in his room and carefully began putting the contact lenses in. **

**After a few hit and miss tries, as well as some choice words for the people who invented the contact lenses, he finally got both of them in and positioned so that it looked like his eyes were naturally a violet-purplish color. Looking in the mirror he had to think that he looked a little too like the Anime characters he had seen on TV given the combination of hair and eye colors. After all human eyes in this reality came in a limited number of colors: green, blue, brown and hazel. Only unnatural things and demons had eyes of a color not of these four. Still when one went out for Halloween the ordinary or commonplace wasn't something you had to take into consideration when choosing a costume. **

**With almost all the contents of the box now on him all that was left was the katana and the wakizashi both of which still lay where he had first seen them in the box. As he reached for the katana a bout of unease and anxiety came over him as a question popped up in his mind. Were these weapons as sharp as the katana he used to kill those men the night of the costume dance or were they dull like movie props or display pieces? After all even the most realistic looking movie prop or most detailed accessory for a costume generally had a dull edge. It was a common sense precaution since no actor could be given enough training time during the course of a movie being made to be considered skilled enough in a sword's use to allow them to use a real one. No movie producer or actor would ever want to risk their careers by using real weapons since the risk that the person would cut themselves up by 'accident' would be fairly high. The same way of thinking could be applied to the people who rented or bought realistic looking costumes for Halloween. No owner of the store where the costume was displayed would want to risk getting sued and the costume wearer would hardly want to risk hurting themselves by accident. While he was still unsure of whether or not the store manager and the team of ten bandits were connected he had a feeling that he would find both blades sharp and ready for use. Picking up the katana he brought it up before his eyes and with one hand on the handle and the other on the sheath he pulled the sword out exposing the blade for him to see. With a feeling of light dread his hunch was now confirmed since the blade did indeed appear to be razor sharp with the edge so thin that he almost couldn't see it. Pulling it completely from its sheath he held the katana straight up and watched the light play off of the blade.**

**_Time to do the field test to make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks on me._ He thought to himself as he dropped the sheath and gripped the katana's handle with both his hands.**

**After looking about the room for a suitable target that he could effectively excuse as an accident to Mrs. Summers later he finally settled on an old wooden coat rack that had been left behind from when the room had been used for storage. If either Buffy or Joyce asked later what had happened to it he could claim he had been swinging the fake, blunt, swords around and broke the rack in two. It was perfectly feasible when taking his goofy personae into account and the fact that neither of them would even think it possible for him to do anything on purpose with a weapon. Holding the sword more like a baseball bat rather than a weapon he pulled it back and with a homerun swing he managed to slice through the wooden 'neck' of the coat rack. It wasn't one of those perfectly clean cuts like you might see in so many movies where someone uses a sword to cut through a metal pipe like a hot knife through butter. Nevertheless the blade had indeed managed to cut through the wood rather than simply breaking it in two like you might expect if he had taken an actual baseball bat to the coat rack. **

**_If they're both this sharp and capable of that kind of damage in the hands of someone like me then there's no way they could be just props._ Xander thought to himself as he picked up the sheath and slid the blade back inside, _Whoever 'convinced' the owner of __Ethan's to give me this obviously believed I'd be needing real weapons tonight rather than fake replicas._**

**Just then a knock at his bedroom door shattered his concentration and he quickly decided to leave any further speculation as to what the true purpose behind the costume switch was until later when he got back from chaperoning.**

**"Xander? You decent?" came Buffy's inquisitive voice through the door.**

**"Depends. If you asking about my grades I'm afraid not." Xander replied in his usual goofy way, "But if your asking whether or not I'm dressed or not then yeah."**

**Buffy giggled a bit at his humor as the door opened but when she took in what he was wearing and the two swords visible the humor vanished only to be replaced by wariness. No doubt she was flashing back to when he had stumbled home carrying the little boy Shinta covered in blood and badly hurt. Not only did she probably perceive that night as a failure on her part to protect one of her friends but also as something that he should be discouraged from repeating in the future.**

**"Look Buffy I know what you're thinking. You think that this is the last costume I should have chosen given what happened the last time I wore an outfit like this." Xander said before the Slayer could get a word in, "The way I see it though is I can either run away from that night or I can step right up, stare it the face and then spit in its face. Face it or hide from it. Personally I'm sick of running."**

**He knew that what he was saying was a load of bullshit since he wanted nothing more than to forget that night ever happened. Taking that entire day and night into account the only good thing that happened was that steamy kiss with Megumi at the Bronze. However he knew that if he didn't come up with a feasible reason quickly for his choice in costume Buffy was going to get inquisitive and more than a little demanding. She would ask where he got the costume and as soon as he told her what happened she would insist that they go back to the shop for some answers. That wasn't a good course of action though because not only would it anger those parties that had the shop owner arrange for him to get the costume but it would also get them all in trouble with Snyder. So until he had a better grip on the situation and the gang had some time to do something about it without that impotent Nazi giving them trouble for their effort he would play it cool and try to keep his friends' minds on the better things in life.**

**"So you guys almost ready?" he asked as slid both the katana and the wakizashi under his belt and arranged them as the manager of the Meiji exhibit had shown him. **

**"N-no, not yet. We just got back so it'll take us a few minutes to get ready." Buffy replied as she shook her head free of the memories the clothes he wore and weapons he possessed invoked in her.**

**"Are we talkin' a few minutes normal time or are we talkin' a few minutes teenage girl time?" Xander asked rhetorically with false seriousness, "'Cause if we're talkin' teenage girl time those kids are going to have grandkids by the time we get there."**

**"Real minutes you goof!" Buffy replied with a barely suppressed laugh as she punched him lightly in the right shoulder, "Head downstairs and wait okay?"**

**Nodding in acceptance of her answer to his half serious inquiry about how long it would take for her and Willow to be ready he leisurely walked out of his room and down the stairs. The sun was beginning to set outside turning the skies from sea blue to a fiery orange and for a moment he was reminded of another dusk just like this and what had happened to him then. He sincerely hoped that things turned out differently because not only did the last evening like this end with many innocent people dead but he almost joined them if not for a swell of good luck on his part. However luck like that rarely came to a person twice and so he hoped that if trouble did stir tonight that Buffy would be close enough so that the Slayer could save the day rather than him. **

**"Xander? Is that you?" came a familiar matronly voice from behind him.**

**Turning around he saw Joyce Summers all dressed up like a professional businesswoman with a snow-white business suit that looked like it had been tailored specifically to fit her and her alone. Add to that fact that she had gotten a new hair-doo causing her hair to flow completely straight down either side of her head ending just above her shoulders and he would have to say that whoever she was doing business with her tonight would cave under the icy look the clothes and hair gave the woman. In any case though it was definitely a change from the 'conservative mother and businesswoman' look she usually wore with the curly hair and standard middle class clothes. With this outfit she looked like a C.E.O of a major multi-national company or the queen of some small country somewhere. Personally he liked the new look and hoped that she stuck with it because it definitely worked for her in his opinion. **

**"Yeah it's me Mrs. Summers." Xander replied as he tried to look casual in his costume even though that would be pretty hard given that he had only once before worn something like this. **

**He could tell from the look on her face that Joyce was having the same thoughts as Buffy concerning his choice in costume but just as he was about to give her the same spiel as the Buffster when something in the older Summers' eyes stopped him. It was a look that seemed to convey to him that she would not pry into the matter and that if he felt it was okay to wear that particular costume she was okay with it. With that potential situation defused before it could get out of hand both of them relaxed a bit more.**

**"Well I must say that you look quite honorable in that outfit." Joyce said with a motherly grin. **

**"Thanks and may I say that you look quite sophisticated as well as capable of running a worldwide business empire." Xander said complimenting the older woman on her choice of attire for this evening.**

**"Thanks. I'm having a small Halloween party over at the gallery with a few noteworthy artists." Joyce said as looked at the watch on her right wrist to double-check the time, "If they like what they see tonight I might just get a serious windfall of business."**

**"Well I'm sure Buffy will like that." Xander replied with a grin at the puzzled look on the woman's face, "After all more money coming in means a bigger allowance for her which means more clothes and mocha lattes."**

**Joyce smiled and giggled a bit at before saying "I'm sure she will until I tell her that the extra money will be going into her college fund and not her pocket."**

**Now it was Xander who had to chuckle a bit at the image that sprang to the front of his mind featuring Buffy and her reaction to her mother putting extra money where she couldn't get to it instead of simply handing it right to her. **

**"Well you have a nice night Xander." Joyce said as she picked up her purse from a table near the front door, "I have to get to the gallery early to make sure that Sophie has everything set up correctly for the party tonight."**

**"Okay. See you later Mrs. S." Xander said as she walked out the door and it closed behind her. **

**_Now what to do to kill time until Buffy and Willow finally decide what color eye shadow goes with which color lipstick. _Xander thought to himself as he idly perused the things he could see from the bottom of the stairs. **

**First he began to catalogue all the things he could see that Tony would have either destroyed or hocked in one of his drunken stupors and then he tried to figure out where in the living room Buffy most likely preferred to sit when she was there. Not the most interesting way to pass the time but it was preferable to trying to deduce who his unknown enemies were and what they wanted. Too much time dwelling on them caused the fear, the fear led to snappiness and the snappiness led to both Buffy and Willow grilling him until he spilled the beans. As much as he would like to bring the others in on this he knew that whatever he had gotten himself into was likely outside the range of the Slayer's mandate and would be too much for the novice wicca to handle. Add to that the fact that if the others began to actively search for or confront these unknown enemies they might earn a spot near the top of the 'to be killed' list and he would not allow that to happen. So long as he was their only target the others were safe and he would do anything to keep it that way. **

**It was about twenty-five minutes to four in the afternoon before he heard footsteps coming towards the steps and when he looked to see who it was he was forced to re-evaluate his opinion of all things of the non-clingy form fitting variety.**

**"**Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!" he exclaimed as she really did look like royalty in the dress.

"Thank you, kind sir." Buffy responded with a bad curtsie before turning to look at the top of the stairs, "But wait till you see..."

Looking to where Buff was indicating he wondered what had the Slayer so cheerful and almost had to laugh as all the pieces finally came into view. Based on the last bit of the conversation he had managed to overhear at the costume shop and Buffy's behavior now he guess that the blonde had tried to get Willow to dress up as something distinctly not-Willowy. However after years of friendship and numerous Halloweens he knew exactly what his best friend would dress up as and how slim the chances were that the redhead would ever go as anything else.

"Hi." Willow said from the top of the stairs covered from head to toe in a ghost costume with the word 'Boo!' written across the front.

"...Casper." Buffy says finishing her earlier statement although this half of that statement had the unmistakable tone of disappointment.

"Hey, Will! That's a fine boo you got there." Xander said trying to minimize the effect Buffy's disappointment would have on the redhead by putting forth a sincere compliment.

** Unfortunately his positive compliment had the unforeseeable side-effect of directing his best but since pre-school's attention directly at him and that resulted in a near identical look to the one that Buffy had on her face when she first beheld his costume. Internally groaning at having to reassure yet another person that he was alright and didn't want the 'are you sure' lecture he decided to say nothing and just head for the door. Hopefully Willow would get the hint and not start her interrogation until after they were done chaperoning the kids. At least by then he might have some chocolate of his own to keep him calm while they gave him the third degree.**

**_Yet another thing to thank my mysterious enemies for!_ He thought to himself as he heard both Willow and Buffy calling for him to wait up, _Spoiling the one night of the year centered when I can drown myself in the sugary goodness that was trick or treat candy! We are talkin' some serious payback when I get my hands on them!_**

**Sunnydale High School, Hallway Leading to the Student Lounge, 4:05p.m**

******"Well, well, well! What do we have here?" said Principal Snyder as he spotted the three of them coming down the hall at a brisk jog, "A trio of latecomers who apparently don't know how to tell time."**

******"Sorry we got—" Willow tried to say in an effort to explain why they were late but was immediately cut off by a 'glare' and 'pointy finger' combo from Snyder. **

******"I don't care! I have half a mind to just sign you all up for detentions for being so late." Snyder said with his 'prison warden' voice before a distinctly unpleasant smile blossomed on his face, "Unfortunately I still have three groups of children that are without chaperons so I'll let you go this once. Now come with me so I can assign you your group."**

******Xander looked to Willow and Buffy asking them with his eyes whether or not it would be worth it for all three of them to turn tail and run. Sadly both of them shook their heads in the negative and looked resigned to whatever fate Snyder had in store for them. Not one to abandon his friends to the torturous punishments of Herr Snyder he plodded along with them determined that he would share in the misery that the Principal had in store for them. **

******As the turned the corner there was a large collection of about fifteen kids and while his math told him that meant they would likely be divided into groups of five apiece their appearances made him reign in his optimism. They were all obviously from families in the lower middle class bracket and with the exception of four of them the rest had very homemade costumes that had been **very hastily put together. The ones that had the store bought costumes were only slightly better off because thanks to the devoted booze hounds his deceased parents had been he recognized the cheap brand costumes they wore right away. What explained Snyder's good mood though was the look that each and every one of the children had in their eyes and on their faces. It was the look born of learning the cold hard realities of life early and accepting them because no one told them otherwise. In essence it looked like Snyder had left the bottom of the barrel, the troublemakers, for the Scooby gang to take out trick or treating. No doubt he was hoping for either Willow, Buffy or himself to lose their cool and do something to the kids that would warrant expulsion. After all kids like these either reacted very well or very poorly to authority figures of any kind and what was a chaperon but an authority figure. That meant lots of attitude from some of them and the rest would probably act like scared mice half the time cringing whenever spoken to no matter how gentle the voice used. In short all three of the Scoobies would be walking one helluva tightrope for the next two hours trying to both be a dutiful chaperon to these kids and not do anything to give Snyder an excuse to exercise his authority as principal of Sunnydale High School. 

**_Looks like things just got a little more interesting._ Xander thought to himself as Snyder called out the names of the kids that would be in his group.**

**Once Snyder had finished with him and gone over to give Willow her brats – er kids – he decided to try and get off on the right foot with these kids by giving them a few words of wisdom from his past as a successful trick or treater. **

**"**Okay, on sleazing extra candy: tears are key. Tears will normally get you the double-bagger. You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood?" Xander asked once he finished outlining the basics that he had learned over many October thirty-firsts.

In response to his inquiry about whether or not all five of his little tots understood him most nodded with half-assed enthusiasm but one kid dressed up like a pirate raised his hand.

"Yes, do you have a question me hearty?" Xander asked in his best pirate voice in the hopes of curbing any bad behavior from the kid.

"Why did you dress like a girl? Are you gay?" the kid asked in a tone that said 'I might piss you off but touch one hair on my head and I will sue' bluntly and with no room for misinterpretation.

_Oooohhhh yeah! That Brit owner of the store is going to have some serious explaining to do when this night is over!_ Xander thought to himself as refrained from rolling his eyes at the question, _Him and the people that hired him to switch my perfectly good macho Van Hellsing costume for **this!**_

Back Room, Ethan's Costume Shop, 5:00p.m 

"The stage is set, all the actors are ready and on stage, so there is only one thing left to do." Ethan said to himself as he knelt before the bust of Janus and prepared to activate the spell he had been commissioned to cast.

He had already gone through the rites to gain Lord Janus' attention earlier in the day after he had closed the shop but now it was time to actually put things in motion. One might say that the earlier rites that he performed were the equivalent to him telling the God of Chaos he had five minutes before the curtain went up. Now, at this precise moment, was the time to grab hold of the correct rope and pull the curtains apart so that the show could begin and his objective to be completed. His employer hadn't specified just how long the spell had to last only that one specific costume must be worn by one specific young American lad no matter what when the magic began. With no set time limit in place the chaos mage resolved that he would do his best to ensure that the spell lasted at least until midnight if not sunrise. That would give him plenty of time to enjoy the chaos wrought by such a diverse collection of heroes, villains and creatures rampaging about the streets tonight.

"Janus, evoco vestram animam. Exaudi meam causam. Carpe noctem pro consilio vestro. Veni, appare et nobis monstra quod est infinita potestas." Ethan chanted as he began to speak the words that would unleash a storm of chaos upon the streets of Sunnydale, "Persona se corpum et sanguium commutandum est. Vestra sancta praesentia concrescet viscera. Janus! Sume noctem!"

With the speaking of the final words the chaos mage felt a wellspring of magical power flow through his body and into the bust of Janus in front of him. With the influx of power the eerie emerald glow that had been present in the stone edifice brightened considerably almost to the point where all other sources of light were unnecessary to light up the room.

"Showtime!" Rayne said with glee and a little fatigue as he felt the invisible pulses of chaos magic ripple outwards from the bust to ensnare all those wearing costumes bearing the mark of Janus.

Leaving 1428 Elm Street, Sunnydale, Ten Seconds Later 

**"So what did the nice young lady give you guys?" Xander asked as his troupe of lower middle class kids returned from their latest request for either a trick or a treat.**

**"A chocolate bar and a bag of chips!" replied one of the kids who had been so timid when they started out but had opened up a bit under the ol' Xander charm.**

**"Yeah! Nancy was real nice!" said another with a small smile albeit somewhat dampened by the scars in the little girl's mind.**

**"Yeah you can always count on nice things from her." Xander said in agreement even if he thought that the young woman in her early twenties was hiding something, "Let's hit a couple more houses alright? We only have a few more minutes before we have to head back to the school."**

**"Ahhhhhhh! Do we have to?" asked all five kids in chorus as if they had been practicing for this precise moment for a week.**

**"Sorry guys! As much as I'd like to take you around all night that balding midget Snyder will be vewy, vewy cross with the both of us if we're not back on time." Xander replied mixing in a little Elmer Fudd to try and make up for the fact that he was about to take them back to lives that were likely not much better than the one he had with Tony and Jessica Harris. **

**Sadly the five children nodded in acceptance before rushing off to the next house on Elm Street in an attempt to distract themselves with the possibility of getting even more sugary treats to gorge on. Seeing them go he remembered what some of his own Halloweens had been like and how fortunate he had been to have either Jesse or Willow's house to escape to for a time before sneaking home. He wondered if any of these children had someplace to go to in order to escape the troubles at home and be normal happy children even if it was only for a short while.**

**_Look on the bright side Harris! At least your mysterious bad guys haven't shown up yet._ Xander thought as he kept half his attention on the kids and the other half on his surroundings, _With a little luck you'll have the kids back to Snyder and have some good fun with the gang before those samurai rejects show up to ruin things._**

**Sadly the young Harris lad should have known that by thinking such things you were practically daring the forces of bad luck and chaos to try and mess things up. This was proven to be true when not more than two seconds later an unseen force slammed into him from behind knocking him to his knees. A maelstrom of images, sounds and smells engulfed his mind and muscles throughout his body received memories not their own. Under such an onslaught his body struggled to cope with the strain it was putting him under with both his mouth and his nose taking in as much oxygen as they could and trying to keep vital systems from freezing up out of sheer shock. If he had the time and the strength of mind to look around he could see that other costumed citizens of Sunnydale were going through the same thing as he was to one degree or another. However he could perceive none of this because if his senses weren't on overload from the sudden influx of information they were most certainly desensitized to any new input coming in. For a time it seemed as though his head would explode and moments before the predicted implosion Xander Harris' world faded into tranquil darkness of unconsciousness. However no one around him would know of this for his body did not fall to the ground limp and lifeless as one would expect once a person's mind lost consciousness. Instead it merely remained there on its knees, motionless, except for the steady breathing accompanying the rise and fall of his chest. Eventually though whatever force that had attacked it and caused it to suffer such a shock to its systems had faded and it was able to muster enough strength to rise to its feet. However it was only when the form raised its head enough for an observer to see his eyes that they realized it was no longer the kind and goofy sole male founding member of the Scooby gang in control of the body. No, it most certainly was not, for the eyes of violet looked out at the scene before it with an icy coldness that not even the depths of space could hope to match. For this one night an entirely new mind was in control of Xander Harris' body and it would make sure that none who survived its wrath would ever forget his face.**

**It would be remembered as the night when a demon from the past walked the Earth once more. **

**A demon called **Hitokiri Battousai.


	5. A Hitokiri in Sunnydale

_Where am I?_ Kenshin asked himself as he looked around at the entirely unfamiliar environment he suddenly found himself in.

His mind was clouded by much confusion as he tried to discern how he had come to this place. Was he here on a mission of some kind? Or had he been ambushed, drugged and taken somewhere against his will by allies of the Shogunate? No. The Shogun and their allies seldom took prisoners, preferring to kill every Imperialist they discovered, so it is unlikely that they were responsible for taking him to this foreign land. The fact that he appeared to be unharmed lent more weight to the belief that his enemies were not responsible for his new location. Regardless of whatever orders they were given no enemy of the Imperialist army would hesitate to take some measure of revenge against one of their hated foes regardless of their rank. If he had been bound and in the company of the enemies of the Imperialists there would most certainly be some evidence to support the possibility on his person. For the next few moments he attempted to deduce how he had come to be in this place and what possible purpose he might have in being here. Eventually though he mentally pushed such thoughts away for in his mind it was useless to attempt to perceive the truth when he possessed so few reliable facts.

_Focus on the here and now. Focus on what your senses can relate to you._ He thought to himself as he allowed his gaze to sweep over the environment for information, _I appear to be in an foreign town constructed in a manner not found in Japan nor in any of the neighboring countries. Based on certain elements around me such as the street lamps, the apparently mechanical carriages and the examples of English script I am most likely in a British colony. _

While the British were not the only nation to use the form of script he could see on the mechanical carriages they were the only nation threatening Japan to his knowledge. With this first bit of information he swiftly but silently ran from where he had been standing in the middle of a street and hid in the shadows cast by a nearby house. Since he was in a British colony it would not be in his best nature to be seen by anyone whether they be civilians or soldiers. No doubt the British government has already manipulated the consciousness of its people into believing that what they were doing in Japan was right and just. More than that the government had likely told its people that the Imperialists were a band of bloodthirsty criminals or something to that effect. Therefore it would only take one person seeing him for word to reach the local police and military and then matters would get worse. They would search this town endlessly for him and while he was not concerned with facing a handful of soldiers at a time he had the disadvantage of being alone in a foreign land with nothing but the clothes he had on and his weapons. No matter how skilled he might be he knew that sooner or later they would succeed in killing him should they learn of his presence in this town. His only advantage was in that no one knew he was here and his survival would depend on keeping it that way for as long as he possibly could. Hopefully he could maintain his invisibility here until he could find a way to return to Japan and his allies in the Choshu clan.

After taking a moment to get his bearings via the stars he then decided to make for the outskirts of this town he was in since it would mean less people for him to avoid. He made it all of three rows of houses before he saw something that made him stop in his tracks, dive into the shadows and watch silently at the two figures came into view. One was red haired foreigner who was either a whore or a woman who had been forced to leave her home before she could clothe herself in something decent. The other was a European noblewoman if he was not mistaken. He had only seen one once when accompanying Katsura to a meeting between the clans allied to him and nations willing to offer covert aide to the Imperialists. He himself of course had not been present during the meeting but rather had been stationed nearby in case it turned out that the potential allies turned out to be enemies instead. The two seemed to know one another or at least the red haired one seemed to know the noblewoman judging from the tone of her voice and her insistence that the dress wearing woman follow her. In any case he saw no reason to linger but rather a strong reason to leave the area as soon as he was able. A noblewoman walking around the streets at night was suspicious as it was not uncommon for nobles to have a bodyguard of some kind with them at all times. Even though most of the colonists believed that they were safe here among their own people it would still be considered proper that women traveling at night should have an escort of some kind. That being the case the likely scenario was that the noble's bodyguard/s were holding back a sizeable group of threats and had ordered the two women to run while they could. Whether that meant that the men held little hope that they'd survive their encounter with the group of assailants or that they intended to catch up with the women later mattered little. With such chaos abound it would likely reach such levels that the local militia would be sent in to restore order.

_I will have to be gone before then._ He thought to himself as he turned to resume his journey to the outskirts of the small town.

However he had taken no more than ten steps before a feeling he could only describe as opposition stopped him from moving any further. It was as if some inner voice was trying to prevent him from moving any further than he already had. He tried a few times to shove the feeling aside using logical reasoning for why he had to leave the area immediately as he thought that perhaps reasoning with this inner voice might silence it. However it did not and whenever he tried to ignore the voice and take another step forward it got even worse. Puzzled at what could have caused such opposition he went back over the last few moments in an attempt to deduce what new variable had awakened this voice that barred him from doing what he must. Of all the things he had seen and taken note of since he had woken up in this strange colony that might account for his inner voice's vehement opposition to his departure were the two young women he had just seen now. Why seeing two young women alone amidst such chaos in a British colony would cause a part of him to refuse to leave them he did not know. They were strangers to him in every sense of the word and revealing himself to them risked word reaching the British soldiers no doubt stationed nearby. Yet no matter how much he tried to push aside this unexplained attachment to the two women it remained as unaffected as Mount Fuji itself.

While he did believe he could proceed with his original plan to go to the outskirts of this town he knew that the inner voice would likely become more and more of a distraction as he proceeded. That would not be to his benefit. If he wanted to remain undetected by the people living here and the soldiers stationed nearby he would need to focus all his concentration on his environment to pass by unseen and unheard. If his concentration was divided, even by only a little, it could lead to him making a mistake and one mistake here would be all it would take to bring his death to him. Perhaps if he merely made sure that they reached a place of safety the inner voice would go silent and he could go about his business without further distractions.

_I will follow them secretly and only intervene if something threatens them._ Kenshin thought as moved silently parallel to the two women while remaining hidden in the shadows.

For awhile it seemed as though the women had no set destination in mind but then the red haired young woman seemed to decide on a course of action and told the noblewoman to follow her. Hopefully the red haired woman's intended destination was not too far away as he did not wish to be sidetracked from his own dilemma longer than was absolutely necessary. While it was the protection and safety of the innocents that drove him to join with the Imperial army in their war against the corrupt Shogunate he knew that he had to choose his battles carefully. He could not stop to prevent every malady or dilemma of the people he came across. He had to employ his skills where they would do the most good but as he was not as knowledgeable of the state of the world as some people were he left the choosing of his assignments up to Katsura. The man was not only the head of the Choshu clan but also the man who had recruited him from Takasugi Shinsaku's training fields. As such Katsura had been his guide into the war between the Shogun and the Imperialists and he trusted the man to guide him in the right direction. In this situation he had no doubt that Katsura would agree to his wish to aid the women in reaching safety but would discourage intervention in any other conflicts he happened upon. His first and foremost objective would always be to find a way back to his comrades.

As he continued onwards alongside the women he noticed a figure approaching them that the two of them had yet to take notice of yet. For a moment he thought it might be human but as it came closer and his night-trained eyes could see more details he concluded that it was **not** human. He had encountered a few creatures like this, both during his training in Hiten Mitsurugi and with the Imperialists, and knew that he would have to move fast to deprive the demon of its meal. With nary a sound he crossed the road behind the two young women and after leaping the fence moved to quickly intercept the youkai. When the gap between he and his target had reached a little more than fifteen feet he grasped the sheath with his left hand and used his thumb to loosen his katana. It was not until he approached the seven feet mark that the demon sensed his approach but it was too late for the youkai. With all the speed he believed it would take he drew his sword and following the teachings of Master Hiko executed the _Ryūshōsen_. Landing behind the demon and letting his momentum die he noticed something that troubled him somewhat. What troubled him was that when he looked to examine the effectiveness of his attack he noticed that his blade had cut through the demon's neck a full inch and a half higher than he had intended. While some might dismiss this as simply a normal variance in accuracy he knew that his teacher had taught him each technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi style until he could perform them all perfectly. That of course led him to only one possible reason for the slash of the _Ryūshōsen_ missing its mark to this degree.

_The demon must have been in the process of dodging my attack._ Kenshin thought with concern at what such an anomaly implied.

By its very nature Hiten Mitsurugi was designed for a one versus many situation with each technique capable of killing an opponent on its own. A large part of its success as a style of swordsmanship is the speed at which the attacks are delivered. It is with god-like speed that these attacks are executed so that not only does one's enemy not have time to react but also so that the user does not remain in once place for too long. As such his Master did not consider a technique mastered until it could be performed with the speed, skill and precision required. That being the case, even though he did not use all the strength and speed he possessed, the _Ryūshōsen_ should still have been executed too fast for the demon to dodge it at all. That meant, by following the logic, that either the demon was faster than he had thought it would be or he had executed the technique slower than he had intended to do it. While he would have preferred to be able to claim the former as the reason it was unsupportable based on how he had seen the demon approach the two women. That meant that for some reason he could not fathom he was not as fast as he remembered being when last he walked in the land of his birth.

_What could have happened to me?_ Kenshin thought in confusion as he tried to find out what could have happened to reduce his speed and skill to such a degree.

Without really thinking about what he was doing he flicked the demon's blood off of his katana and slid it into its sheath. So occupied were his thoughts and contemplations that he did not hear the approach of the red haired woman and the noblewoman until they had already seen him.

"Xander!" the red haired woman exclaimed with a look of relief on her face as she approached, "Thank god we found you!"

Puzzled by the woman calling him by a name not his own he took up a defensive posture just in case she was trying to deceive him. This had the desired effect of causing her to stop moving but it had a side effect he had not anticipated in that her face contorted into a combination of surprise and fear. In her defense though she was quick to push those emotions aside and that in his mind spoke of great inner strength.

"Xander?" she inquired tentatively as if she were testing the stability of an old bridge.

He could understand the woman as it was thought that during the stalking of his target some useful information might come from that person's lips. So while his understanding of the English language might not be complete simple conversations and words were easy enough for him to understand. It also allowed him to talk to those who spoke English as well.

"I am afraid you are mistaken. I am not Xander." He stated as simply and as bluntly as he could so there could be no room for misinterpretation.

For a moment it looked as though she might argue with him on this point but before she could he looked at her in a way that made it clear it would be both futile and dangerous to try.

"T-then w-who are y-you?" the red haired woman asked clearly intimidated by the look he had sent to her.

He could not give her his true name for even though he doubted that any man in the British military would take anything she had to say seriously it was part of his job as the manslayer in the shadows to 'not exist' in the eyes of both the allies and the enemy. Still he knew he would have to give her some sort of name in order to satisfy her curiosity if only a little.

"My name is Shinta." He replied calmly and honestly.

Using the name he had been born with was safe. Aside from his Master Hiko no one else knew that the Hitokiri Battousai, also known as Kenshin Himura, once went by the innocent name of Shinta. The only other people who might attach that name to him were all dead. Even if his name did filter down into the ears of those with military or political power it is unlikely that they would ever make the connection between a lone swordsman and a hitokiri of the Imperialists.

"Okay, Shinta, we need to get someplace safe." The red haired woman said carefully, "I know of a place nearby. Will you escort us there?"

This request seemed to quiet the inner voice that had been preventing him from leaving the two women unprotected to a certain degree and so he took it as a sign of what the voice wished for him to do. With the official request made for an escort to safety it would be considerably easier for him to deal with his inner voice quickly so he could resume dealing with his own situation.

"I will be your escort." He stated simply as he left the defensive posture he had been in and waited for the red haired woman to lead the way to this 'safe place' she knew of.

"Good. This way." The red haired woman said as she began to walk in the direction she had her noblewoman companion had been traveling before they likely heard his encounter with the demon.

So with eyes, ears and nose alert for signs of enemies he followed the pair with one hand on his katana at all times.

Summers Home, Twenty Minutes Later, Kitchen 

**Using the key that Willow knew Mrs. Summers kept under a pot of flowers by the back door she unlocked the door and began to open the door so they could get in. **

**She had only moved the door an inch before Xander placed a hand down on the door handle and stopped her. She looked up at the Japanese swordsman her best friend had become and wondered why he was stopping her from letting them all get inside. As if in reply to this question he motioned for her to step back and she understood then that he wanted to go in first to make sure it was safe before she and Buffy went in. Nodding in agreement she stepped aside and watched as he pushed the door open so slowly one might think it had been blown open by a gentle breeze. Once the door had been moved enough for him to enter the house he stepped forward like a cat, not making a single sound that she could hear, with his right hand near his sword the entire time. He continued to walk forward until he was entirely inside the house before coming to a stop and letting his eyes pass over everything in sight as though committing it all to memory. For a moment she thought he would go through the entire house from basement to the upstairs bedrooms before giving them the all clear to come in. However she was fortunate in that no more than ten seconds after that thought crossed her mind Shinta signaled them that it was safe to enter. **

**Whoever this 'Shinta' was that Xander had decided to dress up as for Halloween he was one scary person. So scary in fact that as soon as they got everyone back to normal she was going to give her 'best-friend-since-pre-school' a piece of her mind and ask him what moment of insanity made him choose to dress up as a coldhearted swordsman. After all it had only been around three weeks since he had collapsed on the front steps of this very house covered in blood with a frightened child in his arms and two deep slashes on his front and back. She had been on the verge of a panic attack when Buffy had called her from the hospital in the middle of the night with the terrible news. Despite her parents' arguments that she could wait until tomorrow to visit her friend she had gotten dressed as quickly as she could and had almost ran the entire way before her father reluctantly offered to drive her there himself. It had been a nerve wracking couple of hours before the doctor had come out of the operating room and explained how her best friend was doing. According to the doctor both slashes were serious but by some miracle none of the major organs were damaged or trauma given to Xander's spinal cord. That had been one of her major worries when she had been told that he had been cut open in the back. She just couldn't bear to think that her friend might have been forced to live the rest of his life in a wheel chair because he was trying to do the right thing. By the time the all clear was given and visits were permitted she had made the decision that she would keep a closer eye on her friend and keep him from getting into trouble.**

**Of course that had been under the assumption that the trauma of what Xander had gone through would be enough to keep her best friend from tempting fate or doing something stupid. In her mind dressing up like a Japanese swordsman was definitely in the same ballpark as daring both deities and devils to do something Hellmouthy. Given that everyone seemed to have become their costumes she was fairly certain one or more supernatural beings had taken notice of her friend's defiance. Hopefully though now that they were all safe and sound at Buffy's they could think the matter through and find out how to put a stop to all this chaos. **

**"**Where are we?" Buffy asked with what Willow had come to call her 'Queeny' voice.

"Your place. Now we just need to..." Willow replied or rather began to reply before a banging on the front door grabbed everyone's attention.

Moving more like a wraith across the room Xander flattened his body up against the wall to the right of the door. Stepping ever so silently closer to the door he peered through the windows in the door to see what was causing the noise. As he did this she noticed that his left hand had loosened the longer of his two swords from its sheath with his thumb while his right hand seemed to be itching to grasp the sword's handle. She had already seen firsthand what he was capable of with that sword since she had been the first one to turn the corner and view the decapitated remains of what she hoped had been a demon. After all just because Giles had said that Halloween was a 'stay inside' night for vampires it didn't mean the same could be said for other kinds of demons. She hoped that the corpse she had seen had indeed been a demon for if it was not then her friend had just killed an innocent person. True it had looked like a demon but then again so had some of the children she had been chaperoning around the neighborhood when the change had overtaken them. Tonight no one could trust what they saw to be the truth especially those who knew what really went on in this town after nightfall. In the end though all she could do was wait and look through the coroner reports tomorrow to see if anyone had died via decapitation. Then of course she'd do her best to make sure Xander never found out what he had done while under the influence of the spell or whatever had done this to everyone.

"It's gone." Shinta/Xander stated as he moved away from the door before sitting down across from said door on the stairs.

It chilled her to the bone to hear such a cold voice come from a person that any other day personified thinking with your heart. When she and Buffy had come upon him after killing that demon/costumed person he had the same look on his face as he did now. Cold, remorseless, completely without any emotion of any kind and a look in his eyes that frightened her completely which was kind why she was making a concentrated effort not to look him in the eye if she could help it.

"This... this could be me." She heard Buffy say with an uncertainty she had never heard in the Slayer's voice.

Turning around she saw that her best female friend had picked up a framed picture of herself.

Stepping up next to her friend she said "It **is** you. Buffy, can't you remember at all?"

"No! I, I don't understand any of this! Uh, uh, th... This is some other girl!" Buffy replied obviously choosing to live in denial, "I would never wear this, that low apparel, and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just wanna go home!"

"You **are** home!" Willow exclaimed in frustration as the young woman who should have been the fearless Slayer broke down into tears, "She couldn't've dressed up like Xena?"

Just as she was about to try her hand at convincing 'Shinta' that he was really her best friend Xander Harris a clawed monster hand smashed through the glass window of the front door and flailed around looking for something to grab a hold of. Before she could say or do anything Shinta/Xander sprang up from his spot on the stairs and in a move that slightly surprised her he slammed the blunt end of his katana's sheath into the hand breaking several of the monster's bones in the process. The unknown monster howled in pain as it withdrew its hand from the window and unless she was hearing wrong running away quickly. Shinta/Xander's action had surprised her because given his emotionless response to decapitating someone she had fully expected him to kill whoever or whatever had been on the other side of the front door. He looked at her with those emotionless eyes and seemed to sense the question she was about to ask him.

"The blood I would have spilled might have attracted other demons and predators to this place." Shinta/Xander said to explain his actions.

Nodding in that it made sense considering how many demons living on the Hellmouth would likely smell the blood and come looking for a meal. It gave her some comfort to know that this Shinta character/person wasn't entirely a cold-blooded killer and could be kept from hurting anybody if given a practical reason for doing so. Deciding to resume her attempt to convince Shinta he was really Xander she opened her mouth to speak but was swiftly interrupted by an all too familiar sounding scream. Moving over to the window she looked out and saw Cordelia running away from a hairy something screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ohmygod! It's Cordelia!" she exclaimed before turning to Shinta/Xander, "You gotta go out there and help her!"

"It would be dangerous. If we attempt to gather too many people here the demons will soon take notice and converge here." Shinta/Xander said in a coldly analytical and tactical voice.

"We just **got** here! Saving one more person and bringing them in here won't do any harm!" she exclaimed getting a little frustrated with her best friend's costumed personae's attitude.

For a moment the Japanese swordsman seemed to consider her words and then, faster than her eyes could keep up with, he opened the door and darted out into the night. Moving as quickly as she could given her form she went back to the living room window to see if he would go for another non-lethal tactic or if she'd have one more coroner report to bury.

"Surely he'll not desert us!" Buffy exclaimed with anxiety as the faux noblewoman got up from the couch and strode to the red haired ghost's side.

"Whatever." Willow muttered to herself with a roll of her eyes at the behavior of her 'distinctly-not-Buffy' friend.

The only thing that comforted the redheaded genius was that once the spell had been broken Buffy's memories of tonight would make sure she would never want to be a noblewoman ever again. She couldn't believe how different a real noblewoman was from all the movies and TV show examples she had seen so far. They had always seemed so refined an beautiful but if this was what they were really like she was personally sending a prayer of thanks to the spirits of the women who fought for women's rights. Looking back out the living room window she looked outside just in time to see Shinta/Xander swing the sheath-covered sword** and hit the furry monster thing in the back of the head. It slumped to the ground unconscious thankfully and a few moments later both Shinta/Xander and Cordelia came running inside before Shinta/Xander shut the door.**

**"**What's going on?" Cordy asked in confusion which probably meant that she was under the same spell as Xander and Buffy.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of." Willow said as she tried to explain to whomever Cordelia was supposed to be who she really was.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?" Cordy asked in a tone usually reserved for people who stated the perfectly obvious with regard to fashion and make up.

"You know us?" Willow asked with a little confusion as she had expected the Queen of Sunnydale High School to be like Buffy and Xander in not knowing who she really was.

"Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?" Cordy asked with a little bit of confusion in her own voice.

**"**A lot's going on." Willow replied as she tried mentally to condense what she knew into something the shallow cheerleader would both understand and actually listen to without getting distracted.

"No kidding. I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume!" Cordelia exclaimed as she indicated a sizeable tear on her sleeve, "Do you really think that Partytown's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

"Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off." Willow said to the three before turning specifically to Shinta/Xander, "But **NO** killing! Understand?"

"Yes." Was all he said before he returned to his spot on the stairs in front of the front door of the Summers' house.

"Well, i-it's not our place to fight. Uh, surely some men will protect us." Buffy said meekly from behind Cordelia.

"What's that riff?" Cordelia asked as she tried to inch away from the disgustingly cowardly Slayer.

"I-it's like amnesia, okay? They don't know who they are. Just sit tight." Willow ordered and without another word she walked right up to and through a wall intent on using her status as a ghost to reach the one person who might know what's going on.

"Who died and made her the boss?" was the last thing she heard before all the brick, wood and plastic side panels prevented her from hearing what else Queen C might have to say.

Inside the Summers' Home, Five Minutes After Willow has Left 

"So what's your deal Mr. Cold-and-Deadly?" the woman in the skin-tight outfit asked him in an arrogant and condescending tone.

"My name is Shinta. I came here with those two women to ensure their safety." He replied keeping his response to the most essential facts, "That is all you need to know."

It looked for a moment that the indecently dressed woman might take issue with the tone he had used but a stern look from him discouraged her just as he had hoped it would. He had hoped that once he had gotten the noblewoman and the red haired one to this house the inner voice that had prevented him from dealing with his own problems would vanish. However not only was that inner voice not gone but now it was insisting that he remain here to ensure their safety. Internally it frustrated him that something was so effectively keeping him from returning to Japan and the Choshu clan but he kept that emotion off his face. His training as a swordsman forbid him from openly revealing what he was feeling to anyone lest they learn to use his expressions to predict his actions. With his emotions locked away inside of him and his mind focused on his duty as a hitokiri and whatever his current assignment was his thoughts would be as ethereal as smoke to others. Hearing footsteps approaching him and sensing the ki of the noblewoman he shifted his eyes in her direction and the cold stare he gave her was apparently enough to stop her approach but not enough to keep her silent.

"Surely there's somewhere we can go. A safe haven." The one the red haired woman called Buffy asked him with a hopeful look on her face.

"The one called Willow instructed us to remain here." Shinta replied in tone that made it clear he would follow those instructions.

"You would take orders from a woman? A-are you feeble in some way?" Buffy asked in surprise and a little confusion.

"As it appears that Willow is the only one of us who has actually lived in this town it is safe to assume that she would know which areas were safe better than we would." Kenshin replied and tried to explain the situation rationally to the noble, "Therefore I suggest that you attempt to calm down and make yourself comfortable. Despite my lack of familiarity with this land this house appears to be strong enough to offer us some protection."

"Coward." Was the only response he received from the noblewoman Buffy before she sat down in a chair and made her dissatisfaction with the situation known in both her eyes and body to any who would look at her.

Just as he was about to resume his passive monitoring of the house with all its sounds, smells and residents a soft sound reached his ears that he almost missed. He reached out with his senses to try and detect the ki of whatever was causing the sound for he was certain it was something alive that had caused the soft sound rather than an object. What he found was the soft glow of a human spirit but what shocked him was that it was not alone as there was a demonic presence in close proximity to it. While the human spirit was unfamiliar to him he knew the foul feel of the demonic presence and what sort of demon possessed it. Moving with a speed and grace that was far greater than that which he had used to decapitate the demon who had threatened Buffy and Willow earlier he stood up and quietly ran into what appeared to be the dining room intent on circling around the intruder and catching it from behind. He had already seen the entrance to the dining room when they had entered the kitchen and then walked down a hallway to this living room so he knew he could slip around this intruder without difficulty.

As he entered the kitchen he saw the form that the vampiric demon he had sensed earlier was in. A man a little taller than himself, black short hair, dressed in black leather pants and a black coat. Silently loosening his wakizashi from its sheath he crept up behind the monster ready to strike if he should dare to harm the two women in the living room.

"Oh, good! You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there." The vampire with a human spirit said with relief.

**"Who are you?" asked the noblewoman Buffy with confusion and no recognition. **

**There was a short pause before the vampire asked "**Okay, somebody wanna fill me in?"

"Do you live here?" Buffy asked with a mix of anxiety and uncertainty.

"No, and you know that. Buffy," the vampire replied with confusion of his own, "I'm lost here. You... What's up with your hair?"

"Buffy and Xander don't know who they are, everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing." Cordelia said with some irritation and impatience before asking cheerfully, "How are you?"

"Xander's here too?" the vampire asked in surprise before turning to Buffy and asking "Buffy? Don't you remember anything?"

Sensing the noblewoman's growing unease it was then that Kenshin decided to put an end to things and swiftly placed the blade of his wakizashi up against the throat of the vampire.

"Do not move." Kenshin said in a tone usually reserved for the Shinsengumi.

For a moment the vampire attempted to move away from the blade but it was to no avail and to emphasize that it was not a good idea to continue the attempts to escape he pressed the blade hard enough against the undead man's throat to start a trickle of blood. Just as he was about to inquire about the vampire's presence here and how he was able to gain entry considering the fact that he likely did not live here all the lamps and light in the house suddenly extinguished. Deciding that he could deal with the vampire later he withdrew his wakizashi from its position next to the undead's throat and sheathed it. There was also the matter of him being able to enter this home. If he recalled the rules that governed the undead they were unable to enter the home of a living person unless invited. That implied that this vampire had been invited into this house prior to tonight. Add to that the casual way in which the woman named Cordelia spoke to him and the presence of a human spirit alongside a demon spirit and it was enough to convince him to reserve judgment.

The vampire turned around and for a moment a look came over its face that might have been recognition as well as fear. However it vanished as soon as it appeared and the demon-animated corpse chose to survey the immediate area. Choosing to place his suspicions about the reaction aside for the time being and moved to look out of the window in the living room facing the street. However he got no more than three steps before his ears once more picked up a sound that did not belong in a house with only three people and one vampire in it. Raising a hand to silence the bickering going on between Buffy and Cordelia, something about proper clothing, he listened again carefully for the sound. Three seconds later he heard it once more and was able to identify the sound immediately.

"Stay with the women vampire. Protect them." Kenshin ordered the undead man with a cold voice and a deadly stare that made it clear what the consequences would be for failure, "I will deal with the Oniwabanshū."

Without even waiting for the vampire's acceptance of his bodyguard position he moved quickly up the stairs as the sounds indicated that the intelligence agents of the Shogunate would enter via the upstairs windows. Keeping his right hand on the handle of his wakizashi he let his ears be his guide as he sought out the ones seeking to covertly enter the house. It was when his search came to the second bedroom that heard the sound of cloth being ruffled and he knew that he had found ones he sought. Using his left hand to loosen the wakizashi from its sheath he crept slowly, step by small step towards the door intending to strike the moment they opened the door. As he was about to take the final step that would put him in prime position to end the skirmish with the ninja as soon as it began a voice in his mind yelled at him to get away from the door quickly. Choosing to trust the inner voice that had been directing him from the moment he awoke in this town he leapt backwards away from the door. A moment later the door exploded outwards sending smoke and fragments of wood everywhere in the immediate vicinity. He had no time to attempt to discern how the inner voice had known what the ninja's were going to do as said Oniwabanshū charged him with kunai in hand.

There were three Oniwabanshū and such numbers could imply various reasons behind their intrusion into the house. They could be a simple scout the building and observe the inhabitants. Another possibility was an assassination of a single person known to live in this house. Bringing up the blade of his wakizashi to deflect a shuriken thrown at him he then slid his body to the side to avoid the thrust of a kunai wielding intelligence officer before employing mineuchi to render the man unconscious. While it was true that he should simply kill these intruders rather than run the risk of one of them regaining consciousness at an inopportune time he chose not to. While killing the demon on the street had been necessary in order to protect the lives of Willow and Buffy the shedding blood here would draw too much attention to his presence. These Oniwabanshū were likely spies of the Shogunate meant to ensure that the terms of agreements made between them and their European allies were adhered to and that treachery was swiftly dealt with. While the Shogunate might appear to be engaged in friendly relationships with the Europeans those of insight and wisdom knew that neither side fully trusted the other.

**_If I merely render them unconscious to be found by the British authorities it may be enough to cause elevated mistrust between them and the Shogunate._ Kenshin thought to himself as the one that had thrown the kunai at him closed in to use hand-to-hand combat to defeat him, _However if they revive before the British authorities arrive they will either die by their own hands for their failure or at the hands of their immediate superiors. Either possibility would be favorable to me since word of my being here would be seen as an attempt to convince their superiors to let them live. _**

**Any further contemplation of the possibilities ended swiftly as it was taking a surprisingly greater amount of speed and agility for him to evade the ninja's attacks. In this instance fortunately it was not because of any perceived loss of physical ability but rather the fact that the hallway was not providing him much room to maneuver. It was one of the reasons why he was using his wakizashi rather than his katana. In such a narrow hallway his ability to use a katana effectively would be limited as he would only be able to employ vertical slashes and thrusts. If he attempted to use horizontal slashes or even diagonal slashes there ran the risk of the blade being slowed down by the wall or even stuck in it. That would give the ninja he faced now opportunities to attack and perhaps succeed in killing him. By employing the shorter wakizashi his choices would be slightly less limited due to its length and it would allow him greater defense from thrown weapons. Fortunately the narrow hallway also helped him in that it forced his enemies to come at him one at a time and eliminate the possibility of thrown weapons from the one in the back as it was unlikely he would risk hitting a comrade. Still he would have to dispatch these intruders quickly and return to the others downstairs in case there were more ninja nearby that he was unaware of. **

**Seeing signs in the body of the ninja that he was fighting that a punch with the **Oniwabanshū's full weight behind it was coming he settled on a course of action. As the punch was thrown he used, if only for a second, all the speed he could muster to dodge it and then bring himself inside the man's defenses. Flipping the wakizashi so that the pommel of the weapon was pointed at the ninja rather than the blade he thrust the weapon forward and rammed the pommel into the ninja's throat. Gagging as the flow of air was cut off the ninja was completely unprepared when he brought the pommel around for another blow but this time to the side of the man's head near the temple. As he had intended the man dropped to the floor as he slipped into unconsciousness leaving only the final member of the group to deal with. That proved to be little trouble as the sole member of the team that was still conscious seemed to be almost frozen in fear at the sight of one who had taken down his two comrades in mere seconds for that was how much time had passed since the door had been destroyed. Time had seemed to slow down after he had unsheathed his wakizashi and while to him it may have seemed that minutes had passed not even one had truly expired since the battle had begun.

_I should deal with this one quickly before he has the chance to summon what remains of his courage to do something drastic._ Kenshin thought to himself as he closed the gap of space between himself and his enemy.

Flipping his sword so that the blunt edge was facing down he put on one final burst of speed before executing the Ryūsōsen technique bombarding the last ninja with numerous successive strikes from the blunt edge of his wakizashi. Needless to say as soon as the blows ceased to rain down upon him he dropped unconscious to the ground and did not move again. He sheathed his wakizashi and turned to return to the others when a scream, one belonging to the noblewoman Buffy he believed, pierced the silent night. Running down the stairs as swiftly as he could he tracked the woman Cordelia and the vampire to the kitchen but no matter where he looked Buffy was not with them. All that indicated where she might be was an open door that was still in motion indicating that whoever had opened it had been in a hurry.

"What happened?" he asked the vampire with a voice that could not be opposed.

"I heard something in the kitchen and went to check it out. Turned out to be one of the trick or treaters that are running all over town." The vampire replied with barely a sliver of fear visible in his eyes, "He attacked me and must have scared Buffy enough to cause her to run. We have to go after her!"

Kenshin could tell that the vampire wasn't telling him the whole truth, that was clear to him by the way the undead man's body was moving, but it didn't change the fact that Buffy was now alone in the chaos outside and thus vulnerable. Given his unfamiliarity with the town his chances of being able to track her down himself were not encouraging and while Cordelia did live in this town she was no tracker. That left him with the unenviable choice of having to rely on the vampire's demonic senses to track her down.

"Can you follow her scent?" he asked bluntly without any preamble.

Nodding only once the vampire ran for the door immediately and after Kenshin grabbed Cordelia by the wrist the two of them followed as closely as they could. As they left the backyard of the house they had been in the Hitokiri wondered if he would ever be allowed to return to his original mission of getting back to Japan. All he got in response was a chuckle of amusement from his inner voice.

Sunnydale High School, Library, Same Time 

**_I wish those children outside would quiet down!_ Rupert Giles thought to himself as he continued to catch up on some paperwork and cataloging that he needed to do. **

**It had been a fairly typical Halloween evening, like many before it both on and off a Hellmouth, with the only oddity being a sudden rise in noise coming from outside created by the costumed children running around. Fortunately though focusing on a task and putting on some soothing music in the background was sufficient to prevent the adolescent noise from giving him a headache. Currently he was examining a series of books that had to be placed back on the shelves but all of the stickers that were placed on the spine of every library book to indicate where they belonged in the stacks had been removed. Whether this was done by accident on the part of the student that had last signed them out or on purpose to aggravate him he couldn't quite say. However it did mean he would have to look through the card catalogue in order to properly replace the missing stickers as well as to return the books to their proper places on the shelves. Taking the first three of the five that had to be returned he walked over to the card catalogue, briefly looking at the title and author name, and began to look through the relevant entry. He had made it about one third of the way there when something happened that not only caused him to nearly have a heart attack but also caused him to rip a handful of cards from the drawer and toss them into the air. **

**What happened was one Willow Rosenburg, dressed in the clothes of a hooker, passing through the card catalogue and the wall behind it as if both things weren't there. **

**"**Jeez!" he said in all his surprise as he tried to get his heart to stop thumping so hard as well as restore some manner of composure to his face.

Willow turned to him and for a moment his mind thought she might be the bloody ghost of Christmas present come to show him the error of his ways. The only two problems with that theory was that it was October and the clothes she was wearing would only make it harder for someone to pay attention to what she was saying.

**"**Hi." She said as if she had just walked through the library doors like she did every day instead of through a sodding wall.

"Uh... ah..." he said as he tried to articulate what he wanted to say through all his confusion and distraction, "huh...?"

_Brilliant Rupert! Bloody brilliant!_ He thought sarcastically at his choice of wording.

An Estate on the Outskirts of Sunnydale, One Minute Later, Owner's Office 

**"An adequate performance wouldn't you say so my Lord?" Hiroshi asked as he used the remote in his hand to terminate the replay of the events at the Summers home that had been transmitted to them via cameras hidden on the ninja team sent there. **

**"Indeed. A little too adequate." The Lord of the Estate replied with a frown on his face and some irritation in his eyes. **

**"Sir?" Hiroshi asked wondering what in the informative video had displeased his Lord and Master. **

**The two of them had watched the encounter from the moment the leader of the group of ninja had tracked the target to the house to the moment the last of them had been defeated. From his point of view the test had been a complete success and phase two was well on its way to completion. Mr. Harris had received the costume from Mr. Rayne as per his Lord's orders and based on the footage he had just witnessed had successfully transformed the American teenager from who he was into one of the most feared manslayer's Japan had ever seen. Neither the setting nor the face of the warrior had mattered to him once he saw the way Alexander Harris had dealt with the leader of the ninja team and his two subordinates. If he tried he could easily compare his past memories of the Battousai with the man in the footage and claim that they were the same man. Others might point out that Harris was only fighting with such skill and ability because of the spell that had been cast on him but they would be incorrect. Unlike the rest of the people of this godforsaken town Alexander's costume had been specially enchanted so that the requisite memories and skills would be drawn from within rather than without. In essence the spell had been instructed to look inside of young Mr. Harris for the information needed to complete the **Hitokiri Battousai identity. With this special condition in place every memory that lay buried deep within the young man's spirit, from the moment of birth to the height of the Battousai's career as a manslayer, would be located and thrust to the surface. The reason for this was twofold: 1st) Any spells placed **in** the host body by the spell cast by Ethan Rayne would become nothing more than a fading memory when the night came to an end and 2nd) It would put the reborn Hitokiri in the exact mindset his Lord wish him to be in.

_The Himura Kenshin we will be dealing with thanks to this spell will not be the pathetic peace loving wanderer, the man who swore never to kill again, but rather the unrepentant manslayer all too willing to kill to see his desired world become a reality._ Hiroshi thought to himself as he found himself looking forward to seeing a Battousai untouched by weakness and foolish ideals.

However despite this good news something displeased his Lord and for the life of him he could not fathom why given the results they had both just viewed.

"I'm not surprised you were not able to tell given that you are not a swordsman and have only ever seen the Battousai fight once Hiroshi." His Lord replied as he rose from the plush couch he had been sitting on, "I however saw it clearly! The speed and strength Alexander Harris exhibited was higher than what should have been possible even with the changes that had been made to him by the spell. Even with the memories of his past life restored and a weapon placed in his hand it should have taken him twice as long **at least** to defeat three of my ninjas!"

"If that is true my Lord then how what could have enabled him to exceed what was expected of him?" Hiroshi asked not quite understanding what his Lord was implying but believing him completely in his assessment of the situation.

"There is only one person who could have tampered with the effect the costume should have had on my old nemesis." His Lord replied with the irritation in his eyes growing into anger, "Ethan Rayne!"

Like a lock clicking into place Hiroshi now understood completely what his Lord was getting at and began to feel some anger of his own. How dare a mere mortal like that interfere with such an important objective! While he did not know what alterations the chaos mage might have made to the enchanted costume it was clear that it would have an affect on his Master's plans for young Mr. Harris.

"Indeed sir! If you wish I can have Mr. Rayne brought in to explain his actions as well as what **precisely** he did to alter the costume's special attributes." Hiroshi said with the utmost determination and vindication.

"No. That fool will not set foot in this house." His Lord said in a tone that spoke of pain and misery if his command should be ignored, "Send Suzu to the costume shop. Tell him that he is instructed to apprehend Rayne, interrogate him and then **dispose** of him. Also make sure he understands that he is not to be spotted by any of the Battousai's acquaintances but neither is he to kill one of them under any circumstances."

"As you command my Lord." Hiroshi said with a bow before turning towards the door and leaving the office.

As he walked down the hallway to the stairs that would take him to the basement and the quarters where one of his Lord's elite warriors resided he found himself slightly in awe of his Lord's choice of operatives to deal with Rayne. Suzu was one of the best warriors his Master had under his command with only two others ranking above him not including the Master himself. Usually the man known as Suzu was sent on special assassination missions to eliminate key government or military officials that were considered to be potentially annoying threats to his Lord. In fact the assassin tended to become downright insubordinate whenever he was ordered to eliminate a target that he considered to be too far beneath him. Fortunately his Lord had a means of ensuring Suzu's obedience and it usually only took a subtle reminder of this to convince the assassin to comply with the orders he was given. Hopefully the opportunity for torture and bloodshed would be enough incentive to ensure that Suzu accepted this mission without argument.

_I just hope that he will be smart enough to remember to get the information my Master has asked for **before** he kills Mr. Rayne._ Hiroshi thought to himself with some distaste, _My Lord will not be merciful to him should he allow his 'playfulness' to get the better of him. _

Sunnydale Library, Sunnydale High School, Ten Minutes Later 

**"**I don't even know what I'm looking for. Plus I can't turn the page." Willow said as she looked down at the book Giles had laid down in front of her and examined its contents for the tenth time.

After Giles had calmed down and stopped acting like a kid when he looked at her she had quickly gone through what was going on. She had been in something of a hurry, worrying about what might happen to the others if left to themselves for too long, so she had only stuck to the main points of the current Hellmouth surprise. Those points being that somehow people had been transformed into whatever they had dressed up as for Halloween. She had even gone so far as to explain what sensations she had felt as the spell had passed over her and changed her from someone pretending to be a ghost into a real one. That had apparently been enough to get Giles started looking through his various tomes and volumes for some clue as to what particular spell had been cast and how it might be undone. So far though he was still looking and her current state of intangibility meant her progress depended on how often the Watcher would turn the page for her.

"Well, alright, l-let's, let's, let's review." Giles said as he placed the books he had gathered down on the table she stood behind, "Um, so everybody became, uh, whatever they were masquerading as."

"Right. Xander was a Japanese swordsman named Shinta and Buffy was an 18th-century girl.**" Willow replied as she glanced back into her memory for the specifics.**

**Giles paused for a moment as though something had tickled the edge of his memory before looking at her and asking "**A-and, uh, your, your costume?"

"I'm a ghost!" she replied with irritation as if he had just asked her if she was a girl.

"Yes. Um... w, uh, uh, uh, the ghost of what, exactly?" he asked while under obvious strain to** look at her without getting flustered.**

**Taking in how she must look to him she covered her bare midriff as best she could before she replied "**Well, this is nothing. You should see what Cordelia was wearing. A-a, a unitard with cat things, like ears and stuff."

"Good heavens. Uh, sh-sh-she became an actual feline?" Giles asked with surprise no doubt at both the danger Queen C was in as well as the power of the magic that had transformed her.

**"**No! She was the same old Cordelia. Just in a cat costume." Willow replied as she quickly knocked the conclusion that the Watcher had come to aside before putting the truth before him.

"She didn't change?" Giles asked with some confusion at the presentation of such an anomaly.

**"**No. Hold on... Partytown. She told us she got her outfit from Partytown." She replied as she realized that they had just come upon an important clue in solving the problem.

"A-a-and everyone who changed, they, they, they, they acquired their costumes where?" Giles asked with urgency as he too came to believe that this bit of information would prove vital to ending the spell that had affected so many.

"We all got ours at a new place. Ethan's." Willow replied as she connected the dots and came to the conclusion that the owner of that store was either helping the person who cast the spell or was he himself the one responsible for this mess.

It was with her answer that a foreign look of rising anger came over the Watcher's face that she had never seen before.

"Take me there." He demanded in a tone that made it impossible for her to either speak or deny him his request.

The Streets of Sunnydale, Five Minutes Later 

It had been almost twenty minutes since the three of them had left the house in search for the missing noblewoman Buffy and yet they seemed to be no closer to finding her than they were when they started. If they did not begin to make some progress soon he would have to begin re-examining his choice to allow the vampire to lead them in their pursuit of the missing young woman.

"Are you certain she came this way?" Kenshin asked the vampire as he made sure his own eyes kept him informed of their environment and all it contained.

"No." the vampire replied with honesty and mayhap a little frustration all his own.

**"**She'll be okay." Cordelia said in an obvious attempt to lighten their spirits.

"**Buffy** would be okay. Whoever she is now, she's helpless. C'mon!" the vampire snapped as he urged them to pick up their pace.

With no other course of action to follow the Hitokiri followed the undead man hoping that their search for the young woman would end soon. It was not only his wish to return his attention to his own concerns that motivated him to finding Buffy sooner rather than later but also a knowledge of the facts. The entire town was enveloped in chaos and the longer the young woman known as Buffy remained missing the greater the likelihood that some terrible fate might befall her. For some reason this troubled him and made the inner voice that had started him on this path all the more insistent that he find the young woman as soon as possible.

_Hopefully this time when I ensure her safety the voice in my head will be silenced for it is becoming quite annoying._ He thought to himself as he followed the vampire around a corner.

The Costume Shop "Ethan's", Five Minutes Later, Inside the Front Entrance 

**Rupert Giles entered the shop with an itch of suspicion in his mind and a growing flame of anger in his heart. **

**It had taken only Willow speaking that one name to cause the majority of the theories he had constructed to explain the events the young woman had described to vanish. With the name 'Ethan' a sick feeling had developed in the pit of his stomach as memories and his own gut feelings mingled to provide him with the identity of the person most likely responsible for the chaos that continued outside this shop and abroad. A ghost from his past had reappeared and he shuddered to think what his charge and her friends would think of him should his past mistakes be brought into the light. With this in mind he decided that the moment he either confirmed his suspicions he would send Willow away to look after the others. He would deal with the prat on his own and hopefully convince the snake to slither back under his rock for good this time.**

**"**Hello! Anyone home?" he said at a volume between speaking normally and yelling.

When no response came he thought for a moment that the proprietor of the shop was not here or that they had been mistaken when they had thought this store was the source of the chaos outside.

"Giles..." he heard Willow say and when he looked at her he saw that she was pointing at a curtained off back room in which an eerie green glow was visible through the fabric.

**Feeling his suspicions that this was where the trouble outside had come from he approached the curtain and with a cautious move of his arm parted the curtain to reveal what was inside. His eyes narrowed with the confirmation of his suspicions as he looked upon a bust of the Roman mythical God Janus, its eyes glowing a bright green. **

**"**Janus. Roman mythical god." Giles stated so as to inform Willow of what was before them.

"Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark." He replied as he tried to decide whether or not approaching the bust would be the smart thing to do.

**"**Chunky and creamy. Oh, no, sorry, that's peanut butter." Came voice that both chilled the Watcher's bones and stoked a fiery hatred in him that he rarely ever felt.

"Willow, get out of here, now." Rupert ordered the young woman** never once taking his eyes off the black haired man that had just made his presence known. **

**"**But..." Willow begins to say with no little confusion and fear.

"Now!" he yelled in a tone that he never wanted her to hear coming from him.

Waiting two minutes in order to make sure the student from Sunnydale High School was gone he decided it was time to get the obvious out of the way.

"Hello, Ethan." He said in a tone that could have frozen the sun itself.

**"**Hello, Ripper." Ethan said back in a playful and mischief filled tone of voice.

**_The Warehouse District, Sunnydale Twenty Minutes Later_******

**It was with a scream of fear that Kenshin knew both that Buffy was close and that she was in danger. Breaking from the group he ran towards where he believed the scream had come from but did not ignore the alleyways he passed just in case the screamer was actually closer than she sounded. However as he turned his targeted alleyway he chastised himself for doubting his abilities for even a moment for there before him, attempting to crawl away from a filthy pirate, was the noblewoman Buffy. Seeing that the pirate was closing in on her he pushed his legs as hard as he could to cross the distance in time. To the pirate it must have seemed as though he appeared out of nowhere for one minute he had been about to grab the pretty woman by the arm and the next something hard slammed into his jaw launching him five feet into the air before landing in a pile of trash. While some might have thought that it had been a fist that had connected with the pirate's jaw it had in fact been the pommel of Kenshin's katana. Without even bothering to unsheathe it he had thrust the blunt pommel of his sword forward and caught the foul man solidly on the chin. However much to the Hitokiri's surprise the pirate somehow managed to get back to his feet though the slightly wobbling nature of the man's walking told Kenshin that he had indeed done some damage.**

**"How dare ye interfere wif' my fun! I'll have yer guts fer garters!" slurred the pirate either from drunkenness or due to the effect the blow had on his brain.**

**With a foul bellow of rage the foul smelling pirate charged him head on with his curved sword extended out in front of him. To the Battousai it was a pathetic attack that didn't even warrant meeting his enemy with his own blade. Waiting until just the right moment he shifted his body position to allow the sword of the pirate to pass right by him and then thrust his right elbow into the sickening man's jaw. Bone met bone but with the pirate's own momentum used against him it had a much greater effect than it would have had if the criminal had been struck while standing still. Not only did the blow stop the filthy man's head from proceeding along with his feet but there was also a distinctive cracking sound that indicated a bone had broken. Fortunately when he allowed his right arm to fall to his side he felt no pain so it could not have been his bone that had broken. Turning a bit and looking down at the pirate, who thankfully had been rendered unconscious by this last attack, he noticed a growing discoloration on his jaw and if he looked closely he could see the jawbone itself slightly askew. Apparently he had broken, or at the very least dislocated, the man's jaw. He would likely be unable to speak or eat normally for quite awhile and for some reason this news seemed to please him immensely.**

**With the matter of the noblewoman Buffy's assailant taken care of he turned to face the woman in question to find her already on her feet with some remaining fear on her face.**

**"Are you injured?" he asked her politely but strongly as he doubted she would hear him without some strength in his voice. **

**"I do not believe so." Buffy said with some distraction as he looked up at him before looking down at herself to look for visible signs of harm. **

**"Then we should return to the others and find a safe place to wait out the chaos that has engulfed this town." He said as he began to walk back the way he had come to where he could now hear both the vampire and Cordelia approaching from. **

**"No! I will not go back! That man! He's a vampire!" Buffy exclaimed making it clear that if he pressed her to return with him she would likely flee once more. **

**Apparently the vampire had revealed his true face to her back at the house and it had driven her to flee lest she fall prey to his evil. While he agreed with the need for caution around the vampire he believed that on this night when all manner of order and peace had gone it was better to be part of a group then alone. Add to that the number of oddities he had observed about the vampire and he was not entirely certain he was a threat anymore. When he had gone upstairs in the house to deal with the ninja the vampire had an opportunity to kill both women and feed upon them without his knowing. Add to that his basic ability to enter that home and he had a feeling that the vampire might be the exception to the rule that all vampires are evil. Nevertheless he doubted that these reasons would persuade the noblewoman Buffy to return with the group so he had to come up with another suitable reason on his own.**

**"Indeed he is but I swear to you Buffy that I will protect you until you are reunited with your family." He said hoping that a promise from a skilled warrior would be enough to ward off her fear and allow them to walk with the others without difficulty. **

**With the words he spoke the fear did indeed seem to disperse from within in her but it also had another effect that he had not anticipated. With a smile of relief on her face she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly and laying her head on his chest. To say that he was unprepared for this would have been an understatement but when he considered pushing her away he found that he could not. For some reason it pleased a part of him to have her this close to him and almost unbidden his own arms wrapped around her body. An unfamiliar warm feeling began to manifest in the cold darkness that had formed within him after he took on the role of the Hitokiri in the shadows. However before he could make sense of this new sensation the vampire and the woman Cordelia came around the corner causing him to raise the barriers between him and his emotions once more. Gently removing her arms from around his body he stepped forward and took a position that would allow him to intercept the undead man should he attempt anything hostile. **

**"Is Buffy alright?" the vampire asked with concern and a bit of suspicion in his voice. **

**"She is fine." Kenshin said in a cold and professional tone, "However I believe we should find someplace safe to hide. I doubt this pirate is the only threat roaming this area."**

**No sooner did he finish that sentence then a familiar voice yelled "**Guys!"

Turning towards the voice he saw the woman Willow running towards them but with a look of fear on her face that told him something dangerous was nearby.

**"**Willow!" the vampire exclaimed both in surprise and relief.

"Guys, you gotta get inside." Willow said urgently before looking back the way she had come.

Looking in the same direction as her he quickly saw the source of her concern as a group of demons and monsters were walking towards them led by a vampire with snow white hair dressed all in black. They were of all shapes and sizes with none of them looking like they would grant mercy to any they chose to attack. For a moment he considered ordering the others to flee while he dealt with this threat by himself but discarded that idea when he looked back to see the fear in Buffy's eyes. If he left her to deal with the group she would likely flee soon after as she would only have Cordelia and the vampire for protection. She was counting on him to keep her safe and he had promised to protect her until she was returned to her family so dealing with the problem on his own wasn't an option.

"We must get into one of these buildings and barricade the doors." He stated as he began to look for an entrance to the building closest to them.

Needing no further direction from him they began to quickly move in the opposite direction of the approaching demons.

The Back Room, "Ethan's", Two Minutes Later 

**"**What? No hug? Aren't you pleased to see your old mate, Rupert?" Ethan asked as he tried to see through what he was sure was a clever disguise his old friend had put on.

"I'm just surprised I didn't guess it was you. This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne." Ripper replied coldly but with a fiery anger in his eyes.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Don't wish to blow my own trumpet, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for'." He said proudly without divulging that the idea wasn't his to begin with.

After all he was fairly certain his employer would not appreciate him divulging such confidential information with his expressed permission.

"It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." Ripper said with venom and distaste at his taking pleasure from the chaos outside.

**"**Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocents and all things pure and good, Rupert. It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man." Ethan said with a sneer as he was getting a little tired of trying to find a crack in his old friend's disguise.

"It's no act. It's who I am." Ripper said with certainty and in defiance of any statement that implied something to the contrary.

**"**Who you are? The Watcher, sniveling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin? I think not. I know who you are, Rupert, and I know what you're capable of." Ethan said sarcastically as he let his old mate know exactly what he thought but then something occurred to him, "But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from."

"Break the spell, Ethan. Then leave this place and never come back." Rupert demanded not even giving the chaos mage's suspicions a second thought or a first thought for that matter.

Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere trying to talk his old friend into returning to his past self Ethan decided to try a different tactic.

"Why should I? What's in the bargain for me?**" he asked with false interest and sincerity. **

**"**You get to live." Rupert replied plainly and bluntly.

**"**Oh, Rupert, you're scaring me." Ethan said mockingly with false fear in his voice.

Unfortunately he soon realized that perhaps he had overdone his acting a bit as he soon found all the air knocked from his lungs and a dizzying paid shoot through his jaw.

_Still it's hardly the sort of behavior one would expect from a tweed-clad watcher so at least I am making progress._ He thought to himself as Ripper delivered a** painful kick to his ribs. **

**The Warehouse District, Sunnydale, Five Minutes Later**

"Over here!" the vampire yelled to them.

**Looking to where the vampire stood Kenshin was relieved to discover that the undead man had found a building which did not have all its doors locked or sealed shut in some way. Grabbing Buffy by the hand he pulled her towards the door the vampire had opened and led her inside quickly. The others followed and once everyone was inside the vampire slammed the door shut. Not bothering to inform the others of what they already knew must be done he began to look for objects to barricade the door with. Once the door was sufficiently blocked off they could do the same with any other entrances or exits that the place might have. Barrels, boxes and anything made of thick wood or heavy metals were piled around the door in the hopes of keeping it closed or at least making it impossible for the demons to get through that way. As he placed a metal grate on top of the barrels he had placed there though a thunderous booming began coming from the door as the youkai attempted to break the door down. Quickly he looked about for something more, something heavier, to place in the pile in the hopes that it would hold the enemy party back but sadly anything that might be able to the job was too heavy for them to move into place in time. Resigning himself to the fact that they would not be able to hold the enemy back he ceased attempting to pile more objects in front of the door and moved to a strategic position a few feet away. **

**"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked while trying to ignore Buffy's efforts to cling tightly to her.**

**"We will not be able to keep them from entering this building." He replied as he withdrew his katana from its sheathe, "Better to prepare to fight than persist in a futile venture."**

**"What! Are you mentally challenged?" Cordelia exclaimed in both anger and surprise, "There's no way beat them even with Angel's help!"**

**"It matters not whether or not we can defeat them." He stated as his eyes locked on the door waiting for it to break down, "They will break the door down soon and try to kill us. I have no intention of dying without a fight."**

**To this she merely looked at him as though he was insane and perhaps to a certain degree he was mad. He had not had time to gain an accurate count of the demons trying to get in but he estimated that were at least ten including the leader. That meant that between himself and the vampire they would have at least five demons apiece to deal with including the vampire leading the enemy party. While he had little doubt that he'd be able to handle his five the vampire had no weapons aside from himself to use against his half of the demons. Hand-to-hand combat was done in close quarters and relied on the assumption that either the user would get in close to his opponents or that the enemy would attack him. In this case however there were at least two other potential targets that the demons would consider prey and would likely attack once they determined that he and the vampire were difficult prey. That would mean that unless he and the vampire finished off their opponents quickly the remaining demons would make short work of Cordelia and Buffy. The first few seconds would decide the battle and as these demons would likely be the biggest threat they would all face tonight he would fight them with all the strength he could muster. It was for moments like these that Hiten Mitsurugi was created and he would obey its principles by defending these innocents from harm. **

**With a symphony of clangs and bangs as the various objects that had been placed in front of the door to bar the demons' path fell aside the threat was upon them all and the battle joined. As the demons began to pour in he decided that the best course of action would be to defeat each of them in one stroke and quickly move onto the next one. If he took to long to take care of one another would make it past him and threaten the two women under his protection. With that in mind he chose to try and disperse the enemy group to prevent them from forming any sort of collective strategy.**

**"Hiten Mitsurugi style: **Doryusen!" he yelled as he struck the ground with all his strength and speed.

With the impact of his blade he sent a barrage of both stone fragments from the floor as well as shockwaves from the force of the attack into the front ranks of the oncoming demons. While not as effective as he had hoped, given that it knocked down only four demons when he had hoped to knock six to the ground, it did produce the result he had hoped for by dispersing the enemy party.

"Deal with the four who were sent to the ground vampire." Kenshin ordered as he charged forward to deal with, "I will dispatch the rest."

Not even bothering to wait for a reply he leapt over the fallen demons to face those that while dazed by his attack still remained firmly on their feet. The demon he faced first recovered quicker than anticipated and attempted to slash at him but a correctly execute Ryūkansen later striking with the blunt edge of his katana ended that confrontation swiftly. From there matters cot a little more complicated as the demons he was forced to fight were of below average height and surprisingly nimble on their feet. No matter how he tried to deliver a swift but non-lethal blow to them they managed to evade this katana each time. It was then that he realized that he had been exercising unusual restraint with these demons when logically he did not need to. They were demons, not humans, and as such were likely as big a danger to the British colonists as they were to him at the moment. He doubted that the local government would care very much if a few were to die and by restraining himself in this manner he was giving them a sizeable advantage. He knew that if fought to the best of his ability and acted without restraint he could dispatch these small demons quickly but something of which the young woman Willow had spoken about earlier stayed his hand. From what he could recall of her words she seemed to believe that by some manner of magic people in this town had been changed, transformed, against their will. If that was indeed the case with these short demons then they might actually be children completely unaware of what they do. If that was indeed the case he could never justify to himself the use of lethal force on them.

_Nevertheless I must deal with them swiftly before any harm befalls Buffy or Cordelia._ Kenshin thought to himself as he traveled through his mind for a solution to his current problem.

It came to him in a flash as he deduced the one way he could get them all in one attack. All that was needed was for him to draw them in as close as possible in order to ensure that they received the full force of the attack.

"Is that all you small demons are capable of? Jumping?" he asked them with his best condescending tone, "You are not worth my time."

This caused the three mini-demons to stop their evasion tactics immediately as they glared at him with anger at his insult to their abilities. Then they did the one thing he knew they would in retaliation and attacked him all at once no doubt with the intent of making him regret his words. He grinned minutely in his mind as once again it was proven that if you made fun of a demon it was pretty much guaranteed to attack immediately. In the cases of the more intelligent demons it was because of their pride or their belief that demons were superior to humans in every way. For the dumber ones it was just the usual anger at being made fun of that made them attack. In both cases it was not until their defeat was upon them that they realized that they had been suckered.

So too would it be with these three.

As they flew threw the air towards him he waited until the last possible second before getting his katana into position and executing the Ryūmeisen technique. Slamming the katana back into its sheathe at ultrasonic speed did the trick as it sent a potent shockwave through the air impacting on all three of the attacking mini-demons. This had the effect he desired by temporarily disorienting them and creating an opening for him to neutralize them with minimal effort. Taking his katana out once more he moved swiftly and with three precise swings of his sword he rendered each of the mini-demons unconscious before they even hit the ground. With that threat eliminated he looked about the area for any other threats for him to deal with but what he found made him narrow his eyes in anger. The vampire he had asked to deal with the four demons he had knocked to the ground had indeed done so he had failed to keep three others from getting by him and capturing both Buffy and Cordelia. Not only that but judging by the way he was just now pushing himself to his feet he had been rather soundly beaten in the process. Now matters were worse and as he saw the snow haired vampire that had been leading the group grab the noblewoman Buffy by the throat he knew he would have to make a choice soon.

**"I don't know how you got so good with that pig sticker Droopy but it won't help you now." The British Vampire said with hostile intent, "Now drop it or I snap the Slayer's neck like a twig."**

**The Costume Shop "Ethan's", The Back Room, One Minute Later**

******"**And you said the Ripper was long gone." Ethan managed to get out amidst the groans of pain from his numerous bruises and quite possibly a cracked rib.

Giles ignored that comment of course regardless of how it was somewhat true given that a Watcher wouldn't be nearly as **efficient** when attempting to extract information. However dire times called for serious solutions and he refused to waste time attempting to reason with the man when his charge was running around thinking she was an airhead of woman with the IQ of a grain of rice. It made him angry to no end when he thought of her choice of costume especially when he had a fair idea what her reason for choosing it had been. While the evidence thus far did indicate that Angel was not your typical vampire and that he was fighting on the side of good he was still not entirely comfortable with the idea of a relationship developing between them. They were just of such different worlds that it would no doubt bring them significant heartache should they continue further and possible heartbreak should there be an obstacle they are unable to overcome. ** In any case it was neither here nor there at the moment and he would have to break the spell that his former friend had cast before anything could proceed one way or another. **

**"**Tell me how to stop the spell." He said in a tone that made it clear what would happen if he didn't obey.

"Say 'pretty please'." Ethan said mockingly with a laugh almost ready to leave his mouth.

_This could take a little more effort than I had anticipated._ Giles thought to himself as he delivered a swift kick to the man's gut, _I just hope Buffy and the others can stay out of trouble until I can break the spell._

It was only during his application of a little more physical persuasion that he realized hoping for Buffy to stay out of trouble was like hoping all the demons in the world would suddenly drop dead.

To put it plainly his hope was utterly ridiculous.

Warehouse District, Warehouse Number 13, One Minute Later 

**"Well? What's it going to be Droopy? You gonna drop the sword or am I gonna have to show this bint what it's like to see things sideways?" the snow haired vampire asked with a bit of impatience. **

**"Since it is almost a certainty that you will kill all of us regardless of what I do I refuse to do as you ask." Kenshin said in a voice so cold even the Grim Reaper would shiver if he heard it. **

**This took just about everyone by surprise but only the snow haired vampire, the vampire with the human spirit and Willow chose to exclaim "WHAT!"**

**"However there is one fact that you should be made aware of before you take action." He stated without any emotion whatsoever.**

**"Oh? And what's that?" the snow haired vampire asked still reeling from this unexpected turn of events. **

**"That in the time it takes for her to fall to the ground I will be able to cross the fifteen feet between us and separate your head from your shoulders." Kenshin replied with honesty, confidence and deadly intent. **

**"Xander NO! Don't risk it!" the vampire with the human spirit inside yelled as he tried to free himself from the demon that held him.**

**"I know not why you have mistaken me for this Xander vampire but I am not him." Kenshin said with his eyes never leaving those of the snow haired vampire, "I have only known Buffy and the others for a few short hours. Their lives mean nothing to me as does yours."**

**These words seemed to rock the listeners even more than he refusal to drop his Katana and he could see the first signs of anxiety begin to manifest on the snow haired vampire's face. It was time to put the final element of his hastily constructed plan into effect and hope that they all did not pay for it with their lives. **

**"However as you die take some solace in the fact that the white haired vampire and his minions will be joining you in death not more than a minute afterwards." Kenshin declared as he placed both his body and his sword into an offensive position.**

**With this final declaration he could see that all three of the enemy vampires including the leader were beginning to wonder if they had enough courage to bet their lives on the belief that the human would not sacrifice his own kind if he could help it. The less intelligent looking demons were definitely looking like they were giving serious thought to abandoning their leader and preserving their own existence. The vampires still seemed confident in their position but that was likely to the unwarranted arrogance that their kind possessed when they compared themselves to ordinary humans. As a whole he could tell that it would take one more push to send them running for their lives but the one move he could think of possessed serious risk to him. However as he saw them begin to misinterpret his silence and lack of movement as evidence stating that he had only been bluffing about not caring about the hostages he knew he had no choice.**

**"Do not worry though. I will not send you to hell without knowing the name of your killer." He said as he steadily began to stalk towards them, "My true name is for my friends but you may call me Battousai."**

**It was in that one instant that two things became clear to him: 1) The time to strike was now and 2) these vampires had heard of a name known only to a few select Imperialists. Disregarding the revelation that someone within the Choshu clan had revealed his existence to demons he quickly changed his pace from slow stalking to the speed that was one of three elements that made Hiten Mitsurugi deadly. Like a serpent lashing out at its prey he thrust his katana forward as soon as he was within range of the snow haired vampire skewering his neck just to the right of the middle. The combined shock produced in the vampire from both his sudden increase in speed and the fact that there was a blade in his throat was enough to get him to release Buffy as his hands automatically reached up to grab the foreign object lodged in his throat. However that was what Kenshin had been waiting for and with a little more than a jerk of his arms he decapitated the vampire turning him to ash and killing him for the final time. He did not stop there though for he knew that without their leader both the two remaining vampires as well as the demons would act unpredictably. With this in mind he turned to the vampire on the left and charged him. Apparently though the vampire was still coherent enough to throw a punch at him as he approached but it did the undead man no good as a perfectly executed **Ryūkansen swiftly caused the head of the animated corpse to tumble off his shoulders before transforming into a pile of ashes.

_One more vampire left to deal with._ Kenshin thought to himself as he turned to face the vampire that had been on the right of the leader when his attack had begun.

_**The Costume Shop Called "Ethan's", Back Room, Same Time**_

"Now, tell me how to stop the spell." Giles asked his 'old friend' once more after viciously kicking him in the ribs.

"Janus. Break its statue." Was all Ethan could apparently get out given how painful it was for him to breath at the moment given his injuries.

_This had bloody better work!_ Giles thought to himself as he walked over to the bust of Janus and picked it up with both hands.

Raising the stone sculpture above his head he heaved it downward with all his strength towards the stone floor in front of him. When stone met stone one of them had to break and given that the floor was much stronger than thicker than the puny stone head it had little trouble turning one single piece into many pieces. With the destruction of the focus of the spell the energy that had been emitting waves that spanned the town gave off one final surge of power before dissipating completely. Little did the Watcher assigned to the current Slayer know that while most of those changed by the spell would return to normal with only fading memories left in them there would be one who be a constant reminder of what happened this night.

Needless to say when he found out who that reminder was his desire to beat his 'old friend' to a bloody pulp was significantly raised.

**Warehouse District, One Second After the Janus Bust was Shattered**

For one Xander Harris good timing was something that he never really associated with himself given how he always seemed to have arrived home just in time to catch the brunt of Tony's drunken rage or too late to take a test that he really needed to ace. Willow had tried to help him fix this little quirk but unfortunately all they managed to do was pass his bad timing onto her. Their only real hope had been that it was something he would grow out of eventually but here tonight his bad timing decided to remind him that it was still there and going strong. One second he was in the middle of a street getting ready to take some kids to the next house on their trick or treat route and now he was holding onto the katana that had been packed with his costume and the pointy end was stuck halfway through a vamps neck.

**"What the…?" he said in confusion but before he could complete his sentence or form a new one the vamp he was cutting into decided to give him a painful surprise.**

**One punch to the jaw later and he was on the floor seeing stars while the vamp pulled the sword out of his neck and decided to take care of an obvious threat to his kind. Xander looked up just in time to see the vamp ready to cleave him in two before someone kicked the bloodsucker in the back causing him to drop the katana as he stumbled forward. That same someone caught the sword before it could hit the ground and finished the job he had started lopping the corpse's head off with one swing. The Zeppo smiled as there was only one person he knew of who could do all that in one go without making a mistake. His theory was validated when the vamp dust cloud cleared and he saw Buffy standing there with katana in hand. **

**"Hey Xan!" she said as she gave the sword a quick twirl, "You alright?"**

**"Nothing a pack of ice and some painkillers wouldn't cure." He said getting up with his right hand rubbing the sore spot where the vamp's fist had connected. **

**"I'll get you an ice bag when we get home." Buffy said as she looked down at the katana in her hand and asked, "Xander? Why are you carrying around a real katana and not a fake costume one?"**

**That question hit him out of left field and he was left fumbling for an answer that wouldn't have the Slayer tearing up the town for human she couldn't kill but who were all too willing to kill her. **

**"**I'm scared! I want my mommy!" Bellowed one of the kids setting off a storm of crying and whining that immediately drew the attention of every young adult in the room.

"How about we deal with these kids first and then ask about the perfectly explainable sharp katana?" he asked as he extended his hand in an unofficial request to have it back.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment but then she nodded in agreement with his suggestion and his request as he passed the katana back to him. Not hesitating and hoping that the out of sight out of mind strategy worked on the Slayer he placed the katana back in its sheath. Hopefully by the time they got all the kids back to their parents and then got back to the Summers house Buffy would be too tired to interrogate him until a much later date. Right then it was like a bolt of lightning shot through his head as at the mention of the Summers' house he remembered the destroyed bedroom door and the three unconscious ninja. The ninjas were probably back to being plain old trick or treaters and hopefully would just head back home rather than do something nuts like ransack the place. The door on the other hand would be a tad harder to cover up when Mrs. Summers got back as he doubted any 'normal' excuses he and Buffy could come up with would fly with Joyce.

_On the plus side though it was **Buffy's** door and that means that until it's replaced I'll have an unobstructed view into her room!_ He thought to himself as his mind entered a happy place, _Definitely well worth the verbal thrashing from Mrs. S!_

_**A Back Alleyway, Two Blocks and Growing From the Costume Shop "Ethan's"**_

Two Minutes Later 

_Better luck next time Ripper!_ Ethan thought to himself as he continued to put as much distance between himself and his former 'business' as he could.

While he was tempted to stick around Sunnydale for the foreseeable future in order to needle his old chum some more he decided this once to choose a quick escape instead. While he was fairly certain he could handle any sort of trouble the old boy through his way he was not quite sure he was in such a favorable position with the man who had hired him to pull this little bit of chaos off in the first place. The man hadn't been exact with the specific details of what he wanted to have done aside from 'get this costume to that boy and perform the spell' so there was no telling how he'd take the spell ending so soon or it being traced to an actual person. If he had unknowingly slipped into the 'loose end' category then it would be in his best interest to disappear for a few months and wait for his former employer to lose interest in finding him. Then he could use what resources he had to forge a new identity for himself and start his fun anew.

However a fiery pain in his leg and an unexpected tumble to the ground however informed him that his plans had been rewritten rather forcefully. He tried one time and one time only to get back to his feet but the moment he tried to put any weight on his right leg the pain he felt went from fiery to straight from the sun pain. Looking down at the problematic leg he quickly discovered why he couldn't stand up as there was a rather peculiar looking spear sticking out of it just above the knee joint. It was peculiar because while at one end it did have the requisite sharp point on the other end it had what looked like a solid metal sphere about the same size as a bowling ball. The next question on his mind while important was answered before he could even think it as a man dropped down on his right. The man was fairly tall with 'not ugly but not handsome' features dressed in black ops gear and what looked like a small metal shield on his back. What caused Ethan to begin trembling in fear though was that the man wore a strip of cloth across his eyes with the words 'Eye of the Heart' written on it in Japanese.

"B-bloody HELL!" he exclaimed in fear as all the rumors, half-truths and crumbs of info he could remember about this man surged to the front of his mind.

"Not yet Mr. Rayne but soon." The man said in a perfectly polite and courteous tone of voice, "I'm afraid my master is most displeased with how you performed the task you were hired for and wants some information before he is done with you."

"I'll tell him anything he wants to know! Anything!" Ethan exclaimed quickly as a glimmer of hope concerning his continued existence began to grow.

"You misunderstand me Mr. Rayne. You will not be talking to my Master but rather to me." The 'Eye of the Heart' stated never losing his polite tone of voice, "Also I will be handling your travel arrangements after you give me the information my Master wants. Don't worry, it will be **very** warm indeed!"

It was in that moment that Ethan Thomas Rayne learned that there was indeed such a thing as karma and that any evil deeds you do unto others would eventually be visited on you.

Summers' Home, The Next Morning 

**_Man! What a night!_ Xander thought to himself as he opened the door to his room on the way to the bathroom.**

**It had taken the gang two hours to meet back up and return all the kids they had been assigned to the high school but in the end they did it and thus avoided any gleefully dispensed punishment from Herr Snyder. Once that was done they all decided that the best thing to do now was to head home and catch some sleep both to cope with not being in the driver's seat of their own bodies for a few hours as well as all the running they did. By the time he had opened the door to his bedroom he had been too tired to even bother to take off his costume and had more or less collapsed on his bed going off to dreamland a few seconds later. Mrs. Summers had apparently returned before them as he and Buffy had found a note on the counter informing them that they'd talk about the demolished door tomorrow. Needless to say both of them had been eager for sleep after reading the note as neither one of them wanted to even think of what trouble awaited them the next day. **

**_Knowing our luck she's going to have __us install the new door and pay for it as well!_ He thought to himself as closed the bathroom door and answered nature's morning call.**

**Once that stinky bit of business was out of the way he walked up to the mirror intent on brushing his teeth when he decided he might as well take off the wig and take out the contact lenses first and foremost since he'd look a little odd going downstairs for breakfast. Reaching up with his right and left hand he began searching the edges of the wig for the clasps that had kept the wig from getting knocked askew or off last night. However he soon became somewhat confused since no matter where on the boarder between hair and skin he touched he could not find a way to reach under the wig and undo the clasps. Figuring he must've just done too good a job at making sure the clasps weren't visible by tucking them under pretty deep he decided to go for the slightly painful route of just pulling the wig off. Sure he would lose a few pinches of hair and it would hurt but it would only be temporary. So grabbing a handful of reddish-orange hair with his right hand he gave a powerful yank and let out a potent cry of pain less than a second later. Against all logic he could currently come up with it had felt like he had been trying to pull out his own hair just then rather than wig hair. Deciding to give it one more try just in case it was the too tight wig clasps that had caused his pain rather than the unthinkable alternative. Yanking on the red-orange hair again he was treated to yet another helping of pain as the sensation of pulling on one's own natural hair once more graced his senses. It was with this second failed try at removing the 'wig' that an unpleasant possibility crept into his mind and immediately caused him to get up real close with the bathroom mirror. Opening his left eye as wide as it would go and then opening it wider with his fingers he reached up with his right hand to try and remove the contact lenses. True this was his first time using them but he figured as long as he was slow and gentle he shouldn't poke out his own eye by mistake. **

**Unfortunately fate decided to decree he should go O for two in his attempt to remove his costume since after five painful tries and much blinking later he discovered much to his rising feelings of anxiety that his contact lenses were lenses no more. To this new situation there were numerous reactions he could have employed to deal with the thoughts and emotions he was now feeling. In the end though he decided to do what came naturally to him.**

**"Um, Buffy? I think I have a bit of situation going on here!" he yelled in much the same way someone would yell to get their sibling to help them clean up a mess before their folks got home.**


	6. A Demon in my Head

**Note: **This is a note to all those readers of my fanfics who have been asking me when I would be posting something new with some of my other fanfics. I sympathize greatly with you as there are a great number of fanfics I too would like to see the next chapter of as soon as possible. However you should keep in mind that this is a hobby for me and hobbies are meant to be fun so the only time I do work on one fanfic or another is when the muse for that fanfic or this fanfic starts bouncing off the walls like Willow after ten super mocha lattes. I honestly believe that no chapter should be forcefully written but rather that the writer should wait until his creativity engine kicks in and the ideas/scenes flow freely from his mind to his keyboard.

Nevertheless I will try my best to increase the release rate of new chapters. So I ask you the readers of my fanfics to be patient and understanding with regards to updates to my fanfics. Trust me when I say that I will do my best to continue as many of them as I can.

&&&&&&&&&

_**Outside Sunnydale High School, Late Afternoon**_

"Are you sure no one's around?" Xander asked as he cast a glance at all the shady areas and windows in his field of vision.

"For the last time Xander, NO!" Buffy replied with some exasperation.

Not that he could blame her or anything considering he must have asked her at least twenty times since they met up a block away. He knew he shouldn't be making her mad considering how she had help him come up with an excuse to stay home today. However his current appearance had him distinctly on edge especially given how it would only make his life more difficult if someone were to see him. After all red hair like he had was rare unless it came in bottled form and don't even get him started on the length. Sure guys with ponytails weren't exactly rare but he doubted any manly man had one as long as his was. Buffy had offered to trim it down for him but given that her first reaction to finding out the wig was now real hair was grabbing a handful and yanking to test the theory he wasn't letting her anywhere near his head for the foreseeable future. Of course that had led to the two of them telling Mrs. Summers that he had gotten sick from eating too much Halloween candy and needing to stay home from school. She had offered to stay home from the art gallery to take care of him but all it took was the 'I can take care of myself' response to get her to leave the house. From there it was pretty much a day filled with him trying to come up with an outfit to disguise himself after school when he'd meet up with Buffy and the two of them would seek out Giles. He had eventually settled on a jean jacket, some dark sunglasses and a baseball cap. He knew it was a tad cliché but it was the only combo he could think of that people wouldn't immediately associate with Xander Harris.

However no sooner was that problem solved than another one made itself known in the form if varying feelings of unease depending on how far he went from his bedroom. It was a feeling he couldn't quite put into words but if he had to put it into words he'd say that it felt like he was walking through a graveyard after dark without a stake. Granted before he had met Buffy that hadn't been very scary but now that he knew walking through the graveyard at night was the same as advertising an all you can eat buffet to the demons the 'fear factor' definitely spiked to impressive levels. For a moment he thought it was just unease caused by the thought of someone connecting Xander Harris 'school geek' to 'that weird looking guy with the long girly hair'. However when he had entered his room to see if there was anything Hellmouthy causing his panic attack he found that it wasn't his oh so nice high school peers causing his unease. No it was not because as soon as he set eyes on the katana and wakizashi leaning up against his dresser the feeling of anxiety went away. Needless to say he began cursing whichever god, goddess or deity that had decided it had been too easy for him to come up with a good disguise and decided to make things a **little** more difficult.

From there he had to look all over the house to try and find something he could use to conceal the two blades that wouldn't attract unwanted attention. His first idea would be a gym bag of some kind but all the ones he had or could find around the Summers home were too small. Next came the idea to simply wrap them in brown paper and make it looked like he was some kind of delivery person dropping off a package but that idea was killed almost as quickly as it had been born. He knew that if Herr Snyder saw him walking into the school with an unknown package the man would either demand to know which teacher was wasting school funds or suspect him of doing something illegal. In the end he had to go with something a bit more obvious by hiding the two weapons inside a cardboard tube that he had seen Joyce use to transport certain paintings either to the gallery or to the post office to be shipped to its new owner. It was certainly long enough to hold the swords and after some adjusting of their position they fit perfectly.

That of course brought him to where he was right now.

Entering the place of learning he found that his fear of discovery by the high school elite actually went up as the likelihood of him running into one of them increased. After all there were any number of after school activities going on at this time of day and only the fact that the library was considered the eight level of hell (with Snyder's office being the ninth) made it safe to head towards. Whether that was because they could actually sense the demonic energies of the Hellmouth or simply because that was where the books lived he was unable to say for certain. No matter what though he doubted that he'd feel safe until they were sitting down at the main research table in the library and talking to the G-Man.

Looking ahead to Buffy he saw her glance at him in what she probably thought was a covert way but he picked it up easily. She had been like that ever since it had been proven to her satisfaction that his costume was still real and he hadn't been entirely released from the spell. She wasn't actively afraid of him or anything but neither was she entirely loose and carefree near him either. Not that he could blame her based on what he could remember of his little adventure last night as killer Japanese swordsman. That guy had been one seriously cold dude with skills that would make any sane person, demon or human, shit their pants. Most of what he could remember as it pertained to what had gone on inside that assassin's head he did his best to ignore and suppress. He had **absolutely** no interest in finding out what went on inside the head of a cold-blooded assassin **whatsoever**.

When the doors to the library opened he saw Willow nervously sitting at the table, no doubt worried about why her best friend since pre-school, and Giles already looking through a small stack of dusty books. Buffy had most certainly related to the Watcher the situation with him during school hours which hopefully meant that Giles already had a few ideas on how to get him back to normal. Both his best-bud's head and the G-Man's head popped up after hearing the doors to the library open and he braced himself for what he knew was coming. No more than four seconds later he had a redhead giving him a surprisingly strong bear hug and babbling about how everything was going to be alright. He just endured it knowing that it would be better to let her get it out of her system rather than interrupt her. Once it was done however Giles stepped forward with questions obviously on his mind and expecting the Zeppo to have the answers for most of them.

Deciding to get the obvious out of the way he reached up and took the cap off his head before doing the same to the glasses that had been keeping his twilight eyes hidden. This had the effect of fascinating the Watcher but it also seemed to unnerve Willow a bit but he figured that was just due to her remembering his Halloween personae.

"Well I think it is safe to say that reports of you still being somewhat enchanted by last night's spell are quite accurate." Giles stated as he took a few scrutinizing looks at the Zeppo's hairline and then eyes, "I have done some research already on the spell itself in an effort to determine what might have gone wrong. However I will need to know more about who you were dressed as in order to determine if that personae had an unforeseen side-effect on the spell."

Deciding to do as the Watcher asked he began to dig into his mind to find a name to attach to the identity of the Japanese assassin he had become last night. No doubt everyone else was more or less expecting him to be able to answer immediately since they thought he had picked out the costume himself. Unfortunately that was not the case as the outfit he had ended up wearing Halloween night had not been the Van Hellsing one he had chosen but a completely different one. The first name that popped up during his search had been 'Shinta' but he knew that had just been an alias that the assassin had given Willow to keep his true one a secret. Still it told him that he was getting closer to his objective as thoughts and memories tended to be close by when thinking up clever cover stories. It took a few more moments than he had thought it would and he could tell that the others were beginning to get a bit concerned about the time he was taking to answer what should have been a simple question but eventually he found it.

The assassin's name was Hitokiri Battousai.

It was at the precise moment that the name came to the forefront of his consciousness that he suddenly found himself bombarded with uncountable memories, thoughts and sensations. It was so bad the conscious world was almost gone completely from his realm of perception even though he could on a peripheral level sense what was going on around him. Still with the things that were forcibly taking up residence in his mind at the moment he found himself more concerned about dealing with them than whether or not he was doing something freaky in the real world. Beginning to seriously lose it in the face of this onslaught of info he tried to grab the data as it passed him in order to first comprehend it and then to store it someplace out of the way. Each time he touched a fragment of memory or sensation though he was drawn into them to the point where he relived them in perfect detail. He remembered standing almost knee deep in a stream standing thirty yards away from a tall muscular man in a silly looking white cape.

FLASH.

The feeling of a liquid flowing down his throat that tasted like blood even though some part of him said it wasn't blood at all.

FLASH.

Him, standing in the middle of an acre of farmland, with various men scattered around him, with sword in hand in front of a thick wooden pole.

FLASH.

"I won't! I feel nothing. No regret."

FLASH.

A man standing before him with blood dripping from wounds at various points on his body and a desperate look on his face and in his eyes.

With that last bit of data he was suddenly thrown back into the real world and found himself laid out on the library table with the faces of the rest of the Scooby gang looking down at him with concern.

"Ahhh! When people tell me not to think to hard I never thought it was good advice until now." Xander said as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the table.

"Xander? Are you alright? What happened?" Buffy asked with more than a little concern in her voice.

"Went looking for the sword guy's name like Giles asked and got a helluva lot more than that." Xander said as he felt the foreign memories in the back of his mind threatening to pounce again before forcing them back down into the depths of his mind.

"You mean to say that a part of your costume's personae has remained as well?" Giles asked with the concern in his voice going up another notch from where it had been earlier.

"Yeah. I've got the entire history of the guy bouncing around in my head." Xander replied as he could feel a slight headache beginning to form, "As for his name he called himself Hitokiri Battousai."

This had a different effect on the three other members of the Scooby gang and none of them were very reassuring from his point of view. From Buffy it was one of confusion and non-recognition and that didn't help him since she apparently knew nothing of use. From Willow it was a look that said the name rang a bell but she'd have to run a search in her mind's database of facts to make sure of it. On Giles, the G-Man and Watcher, though was a look one usually had when seeing a horde of ferocious coming at you with the promise of a painful long-winded death in their eyes. This alarmed the Zeppo more than he let on because while G-Man was hardly the Ice Lord when it came to emotions he always managed to put on the appearance that everything was well in hand. To see the Brit looking so worried was enough to tell Xander that he was in even deeper trouble than he had originally thought. Without a word to anyone the Watcher immediately went to the book stacks, almost running actually, and a few moments later came back with not a demon resource book but rather something else entirely. Dropping the book on the table in his haste Rupert Giles whipped it open and began to search its contents for what he sought. It took a minute but when he was finished no one needed to wonder why as right at the top of the left page was an artist's rendering of a Japanese swordsman cutting his way through a group of armed men. While the drawing was specifically labeled as being just an estimate based on available evidence rather than an eye witness account the name printed in bold letters beneath it was another matter.

'Hitokiri Battousai aka Himura the Battousai' was written in bold for all to see.

"According to this text, last night you went out as one of the most deadly and skilled Japanese swordsmen in the entire world. Scores of men fell before his sword and was considered by the majority who knew of him to be unbeatable." Giles explained before any of the teens could ask any questions, "Not much is known about his activities after the end of the Meiji Revolution, as the eldest of the Watcher's Council thought the atmosphere in Japan was too volatile to risk their operatives being caught 'snooping' as it were."

"So basically, they saw the people coming with pitchforks and torches and made a run for it." Buffy said as she took what her Watcher had told them and made the operatives of the Council look like scaredy cats.

"Yes, quite." Giles stated with a barely restrained roll of his eyes.

"Not being against making fun of the Watchers than were or anything but can we get back to me and my oh so nasty case of half possession?" asked rhetorically Xander as he was not entirely thrilled with the idea of having the look and memories of a dead Japanese killing machine to deal with on top of everything else hellmouthy.

"Well now that I have a better understanding of the situation I believe I should be able to remove the rest of the enchantment without too much difficulty." Giles said as he reached for one of the magic books that had been on the table when the Zeppo arrived, "While the Battousai was regarded as a skilled swordsman there was nothing in the Watcher records to indicate that his abilities were supernatural or demonic in nature."

"And you know this how? You just looked this Batty-sai guy up a few minutes ago." Buffy asked with some puzzlement at how her Watcher was able to come up with so much info so quickly.

"When I learned of the Meiji exhibit at the museum I thought it might be prudent to do some research on the subject on the off chance that something dangerous might come with it." Giles replied somewhat reluctantly as his response might make the teens think he didn't have a life of his own, "In any case it should be relatively simple to remove the foreign elements from your person Xander."

"Great! When can we get started?" Xander asked with joy at the thought of getting back to what passed for normal as far as he was concerned.

"Two days from now." Replied Giles as he began making a mental list of everything he would need.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Xander, Willow and Buffy.

"Well while the spell itself might be relatively simple the ingredients however are a tad exotic and will likely require that I order them from a local distributor." Giles replied as he tried to reassure the teens that there was nothing to worry about, "Fortunately I know someone who will likely have what we need and can get it to me in about two days or so."

"Giles there's got to be a way for you to get the stuff quicker!" Xander said as numerous possibilities began filling his mind about just what could go wrong in two days, "You don't understand just how impossible it'll be for me to walk around like this for two days!"

"Xander I understand it will be difficult trying to keep the Battousai's memories and habits under control but you seem to be doing fine so far." Giles said as he went for what he thought was the obvious reason for the boy's unsettled emotions.

"Giles it's not the assassin memories that's the problem! Them I can deal with. Mostly." Xander replied unable to believe that the man that was like a surrogate father to him was so old that he couldn't see the problems the Zeppo would have over the next two days, "Do you have any idea what I'd be setting myself up for if I went to school looking like this?"

The Watcher just looked back with complete incomprehension on his face.

"Think Giles! Only girls have hair as long as mine is now and it's **red**!" Xander explained, gripping the topknot the length of his hair was still tied in for emphasis, "Never mind the fact that I'll have to come up with some freaky new ways to take the swords to class to me without attracting the attention of everyone with eyes!"

It was with this explanation that the Watcher began to see what was troubling the young man, even if Giles didn't believe it was nearly as bad as the teenager was making it out to be.

"Well, you could always keep them in that tube and say that you have taken up painting. It would only be for two days, maybe three at the most, so it wouldn't draw too much attention to you in so short a time." Giles said as his mind worked to come up with solutions that would alleviate the young man's anxiety, "As for the hair, that could be dealt with easily enough with a trip to the local barber shop."

"Giles! Do you have any idea what barber shops are here for in America?" Xander asked in disbelief at the Brit's lack of knowledge about American society.

"A good trim?" Giles replied tentatively in response to the question.

"Giles, it's the center of the local gossip network." Buffy said with some concern as she realized where the Zeppo was going with this, "If he goes there the entire population of Sunnydale will know about his new look inside of twelve hours."

"In short it would only draw more attention to my unique 'condition' rather than less which is what I assumed we're shooting for." Xander said in conclusion to his joint demolishing of G-Man's solutions with Buffy.

"I could always trim your hair down, Xander." Willow said volunteering her services to make him look more like a man in front of his peers instead of more feminine.

"As much as I appreciate the offer Wills, I still remember what you did to 'Runway Barbie' when you tried to give her a haircut, so no thank you." Xander said as gently as he could to his bestest bud in the whole world.

"XANDER! I was ten years old then!" Willow exclaimed in both anger and embarrassment, "Besides, punk was the in look at the time!"

"Sure it was, Willow." Xander said in mock agreement still disliking the end result of Willow's attempt to 'make Barbie cool'.

"Maybe I could do it then." Came a familiar voice from the doors to the library.

As one Willow, Buffy, Giles and him turned in that direction to see the high school computer teacher, Ms. Jenny Calendar, stride forward with an intrigued look on her face. She had been showing up on and off over the past year to help them with some of the more nasty baddies like Moloch just to name one. She was also Giles' girlfriend although the Watcher was reluctant to admit it most times due to some discomfort at discussing his **private** life with teenagers. Still she had been a big help and while not an official Scooby gang member yet he definitely put her on the reserve Scooby list. As for her offer to trim his hair into something a little more respectable as far as the male half of the student body was concerned he was actually inclined to let her do it. After she offered some proof that she actually knew what she'd be doing in that department of course.

"Well before I let you anywhere near my hair I'd need a past work history as well as a list of references." Xander said with mock seriousness even though there was a humorous grin on his face.

"Well, I didn't work at an actual salon or anything, but every once in awhile my family needed to cut corners financially so we'd take turns getting our hair cut at home." Jenny replied matching the Zeppo's tone and humorous grin, "By the time I left home I was officially recognized as the senior hair stylist of the family."

"Well, I've heard enough. You're hired!" Xander said with no little joy in his voice, "Someone get this lady a comb, a pair of scissors and a water spray bottle."

Xander was both surprised and a little disbelieving when in a matter of seconds Buffy pulled a comb and spray bottle out of her school bag while Willow raced behind the library counter before holding up a pair of scissors.

"Do you guys always carry around that stuff?" he asked with a touch of disbelief in his voice.

"Of course not." Buffy replied with some indignation before a smile broke out, "Usually I bring some conditioner and hairspray but I figured I'd leave them home today."

Everyone enjoyed a laugh at that remark but Xander had to wonder just how much of it was a joke and how much was the truth. Still they had what was needed and the sooner he got rid of this excess hair the sooner her could slip back into a normal routine.

More or less that is.

Sitting down in a chair that Buffy provided he decided to put himself in Ms. Calendar's hands and hope for the best.

_As long as I don't wind up looking like someone took a weed wacker to my hair, I'll be happy._ He thought to himself as he relaxed and let the raven-haired woman start working.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**An Hour and a Half Later, The Bronze**_

_Well so far so good._ Xander thought to himself as he sat on one of the couches in the corner of the ground floor of the Bronze.

It had only taken Ms. Calendar about an hour to finish with the first half of that hour spent discussing the best way to go about trimming his hair with Buffy and Willow. By the time it was all over with it was decided that all that was needed was to shorten the ponytail so that it barely reached his shoulder blades and then just shorten the rest. All in all he wasn't sure what to think about the end result other than admit that it was definitely a step up from what he had been forced to deal with before. He was still getting some rather odd looks from the people who knew him from school as well as a few from around town but none of them seemed ready to make an issue of it. Even Larry didn't seem willing to make with his usual bullying routine though that might have something to do with the fact that his jaw was wired shut. Kinda hard to intimidate the geeks and the freaks when you couldn't say anything. Personally, Xander was overjoyed at the fact that he wouldn't have to deal with the jock's daily routine of making him look like a weakling in front of the entire school. Not that he had a stellar reputation among his classmates anyways but he didn't want it to get any worse either.

Willow had gone to get drinks for the three of them and Buffy was off to see if Angel was around. It was moments like this that he almost wished that he could use a sword as well as that Battousai guy could. He remembered vividly how the Hitokiri had torn****through the ninjas at Buffy's place and then Spike's group at the warehouse. The guy had been damn near untouchable, even though the swordsman had thought he was weaker than he should have been. The vamps hadn't known what had hit them and had been dusted with speed he had only seen Buffy use when she was really pissed. If he could fight like Battousai, he knew he could help the gang out a lot and maybe get Buffy to look elsewhere rather than just at Deadboy. After all, as far as he was concerned the only reason Buffy had failed to notice him so far in the 'potential boyfriend material' way was because he couldn't fight demons as well as Angel could. With the skills left over from the Hitokiri, he could make the undead Captain Hair gel look like an amateur by comparison.

_The only downside would be having a blood-crazed killer in my head for the rest of my life._ Xander thought to himself as his brief hope of winning Buffy's affections took a distinct drop.

He knew that no matter what the possible benefits were to having the Japanese assassin in his head; it was still a risky business keeping Battousai around. After all it had been less than twenty-four hours since he had been under the influence of the spell so who knew what other side effects he might have to deal with aside from a sharp security blanket. For all he knew he'd develop a craving to see split human flesh a week from now and a month later begin to offer his services to whichever terrorist group happened to share views similar to his own. No, as much as he liked the idea of showing up Deadboy and winning Buffy, there was simply too much risk involved to be able to justify keeping the Hitokiri around. Hearing footsteps approaching his position from behind he began to turn to see who it was and was slightly startled to find that his left hand had reached down to the tube at his side and was on the verge of pulling the wakizashi out. Releasing the weapon immediately he turned back in the direction of the approaching footsteps and saw that it was Willow returning with the drinks. Deciding it would be bad if his friend were to learn of how he had almost drawn a sword on her he plastered his best 'Zeppo' smile on his face before helping her put the drinks into the table next to the couch.

"So how many people have stared at the new you since I left?" Willow asked with mild interest before taking a sip of her drink.

"Only about eight, so the novelty of my new hairdo is definitely starting to get old as far as the high school elite are concerned." He replied as he took a gulp of his own drink, "Some of the jocks look like they might make something of it tomorrow but that wouldn't exactly make it any different from every other school day for me."

"Don't worry. You can always hide in the library." Willow said in an attempt to make him feel better, "After all, what are the chances that guys like Larry even know where it is, much less want to go inside?"

"True." He said with a grin at the accurate estimation of Larry's IQ.

Just as Willow began to open her mouth to say something else both she and he spotted Buffy approaching their table with a definite look of disappointment on her face.

"No luck finding Angel?" Willow asked her first female friend.

"Nah. Searched both levels and nada." Buffy replied as she sat down on the couch and took the only cup remaining assuming it was her drink.

"Guess it's still a little early in the evening for him. You know, kinda like some days Xander doesn't get out of bed until noon." Willow said conversationally.

"Hey! That's only on weekends!" Xander exclaimed as he tried to defend his sleeping habits, "'Sides, it's not like I have anything better to do Saturday morning."

"Homework." Willow said supplying an alternate way to spend Saturday morning.

"Shopping." Buffy said putting in her two cents on the subject.

"Not on your life and that's only for girls." Xander said, shooting down both suggestions in order, "Us guys are smart enough to know when to take it easy and when to do work."

"When do you ever do work?" Buffy asked only half serious in her tone.

"When it's for money or when I'm threatened with expulsion." Xander replied before a puzzled look, "Though I think the whole expulsion threat is losing its hold on me given how often Herr Snyder uses it. That guy needs to come up with some original material."

"Snyder needs to come up with a new everything. I swear everything about him is at least a century out of date." Buffy said jokingly as she mock shuddered at the image of Snyder in her mind.

This line of conversation went on for another hour before it was decided that since nothing really interesting was happening at the Bronze, Buffy would do a quick patrol of the local vamp hot spots while he and Willow headed home to bed. He tried to suggest him accompanying her on patrol but she declined, saying that it would probably be a quiet night with most demons likely still suffering from shock over their quiet Halloween going nuts. To seal the deal though she said that one of them needed to be home now so Joyce wouldn't start worrying and be prodded into asking the Slayer questions when she got in later that night. Despite his misgivings about the first reason, he admitted that the second one made sense, given that Mrs. Summers had gotten twice as motherly now that she had another person living in her house to worry about. That meant that unless one of them came home and stayed in for the evening, the elder Summers woman would most certainly get worried and give them the third degree when they got home.

Still it irritated him to no end that he'd have to pass up the chance to show Buffy that he was no longer 'man in distress' but rather 'that cool guy with wicked sword skills' even if it was only for a little while. Who knew? Maybe even after Giles gets rid of the Battousai in me I might still be able to remember enough on my own to help the gang out more.

_Hmmm. Maybe I should ask Giles after the spell to give me some sword lessons._ Xander thought to himself as he waved goodbye to Willow and Buffy as they all went their separate directions, _It might not make me as good as I was Halloween night but it'd be better than nothing._

However just as he was about to down the street that was the most direct route back to the Summers home, he spotted Angel walking briskly to the right a few blocks down. For a moment a choice was presented to him: to either go tell Deadboy that Buffy was looking for him, or just continue on home and let ash breath find her on his own. In the end he figured he might as well see what had Lord Forehead in such a hurry, and then decide whether or not to tell him where Buffy was and what she was doing.

Breaking into a brisk trot of his own, he put moderate effort into catching up to the self-proclaimed 'good vampire' and turned down the street he had seen Sir Gels-a-lot****go down. It surprised him a little when he finally spotted the black wearing form of Angel a lot further down the road than he should have been but figured that the vamp had just decided to pick up the pace even more. Doing likewise he did his best to keep Overbite in sight while at the same time becoming a little curious about what could light a fire under tall, dark and dead's butt to get him to move this quickly.

Ten minutes later he turned the final corner, only to barely dodge a little boy running by him. Given what running civilians tended to mean in this town, he jumped back around the corner and flattened himself next to the building before peeking around the corner. It was then that he spotted a sight that made him both angry and slightly happy at the same time. There in the middle of the park near a swing set was Angel and some unknown woman who seemed to be very emotive towards Gel-boy.

She seemed to be looking at him like numerous girls at the high school tended to look at the jocks and rich boys. While the idea of Angel possibly having another girl on the side gave him a happy in that it would put wedge of sorts between the vamp and the Slayer, it also angered him that Overbite would two time Buffy. He was just about to step out of his hiding place and give the vampire a piece of his mind when he noticed something that most others would not. It might have been a trick of the nearby streetlights or even the moonlight but the woman's skin seemed unusually pale. Add to that the fact that she was wearing a dress that looked to be at least a century out of date and it all came together to be one very unusual look. It took less than a second though for his mind to view these facts and come to one inescapable conclusion.

_She's a vampire!_ He thought to himself as this fact more than the two timing made him want to walk right up to Deadboy and kick his ass.

Overbite went on and on about how he was a 'good vampire' fighting the good fight on their side against the demons and here he was talking with one when he should be staking the vamp femme. He was too far away from the two vampires but he could see well enough to know that staking the enemy was the last thing on Angel's mind. Popping the top on the cardboard tube he had been carrying with him he took out both his katana and wakizashi. Slipping them into the proper positions beneath the belt around his waist he decided that it was high time to make King Foreheadboy remember just which side he was supposed to be on and what it was their job to do.

Letting the instincts and muscle memories from Battousai seep into his body, he gripped the sheathe to his katana with his left hand and used the thumb on that hand to loosen the sword from its sheathe. Taking a deep breathe, to both calm what unease he had within him and focus his mind, he charged around the corner and headed straight for the female vampire standing a little too close to Angel. He was about halfway there before the two undead people noticed him and both had a look of surprise on their faces. He had expected this, given that he had come out of nowhere and was coming at them full tilt with a pair of swords on his left hip. Reaching over with his right hand to grasp the handle of his katana he decided to take out the female vampire quickly rather than bother with any witty banter or lectures. As he reached the ten feet mark he could see Angel, for some unknown reason, attempting to intercept him but that didn't bother him. He would refrain from killing the vampire for Buffy's sake but the female one was still going to die tonight.

Gripping his katana carefully he waited until the last moment and let his body choose the appropriate attack based on the guidelines he had set up in his mind. As his body seemed to suddenly pick up speed he heard a whisper in his mind speak the technique's name.

_Hiten Mitsurugi Style: Ryūkansen Tsumuji!_ Said the voice whispering in the back of his mind and with those words the attack was executed.

Crouching low and without breaking stride he bypassed Deadboy's attempt to block him, flipped his katana so that the blunt end was facing out, and delivered a strong attack to Lord Forehead's neck. Not enough to break the spine; much less sever the head from the body, but definitely enough to render the vamp's body numb and unable to move for several moments. Hopefully that would give him enough time to deal with the femme vamp and give Deadboy a lecture so he could leave before it all de-evolved into a pointless argument. By this time the female vamp had only moved a few feet in away but for some reason the look of surprise on her face had changed to one of eager anticipation, rather than the fear it should have been.

_Fine! If the psycho vamp is so eager to die then I'm happy to oblige her! _He thought to himself as he moved in for the kill.

Deciding he wouldn't need any of the Hitokiri's fancy moves to kill this one female vamp he clamped down a bit on the instincts, sensations and partial memories that he had briefly used to get by Deadboy before settling on a basic decapitation swing. However, no one was more surprised than him when the vamp somehow managed to dodge the attack. Deciding that maybe this vamp was a little better than he thought she was he upped the speed and accuracy of his attacks increasing both with each failed swing. Yet while his attempts were getting closer and closer to hitting the mark the femme vamp continued to evade each attempt to separate her head from her body. Just as his frustration was beginning to show on his face his slip in focus made him sloppy and the femme was able to deliver a solid right hook to his face, causing him to stagger backwards and rethink things.

"Bad old demon won't kill princess that easily!" the femme said with playful malevolence, "Princess sees you dance oh so clearly. Naughty demon kitten will pay for killing my Spike!"

"Not if I kill you first! Hiten Mitsurugi Style: Ryūsōsen!" he declared as his anger at his lack of progress allowed the foreign thoughts/memories/instincts of Hitokiri Battousai surge forward.

With the katana in his right hand he lashed out again and again in a flurry of successive strikes aimed at the entire body of the vampire woman rather than just the neck. He had decided that if he could not decapitate her outright he'd go for weakening her body first and **then** separating her head from her shoulders. After all she could not dodge the attack if her body was too beaten up to move now could she. However this move only met with partial success as only about a quarter of the sword strikes connected with his intended target. Still, it did have a measurable effect since each stroke that cut through undead flesh seemed to slow the female vampire down more and more. He was just about to deliver what he hoped would be the killing blow when something inside of him screamed to jump backwards immediately. Deciding to trust this voice that was yelling at him he broke off the attack and leapt back a full eight feet. As it turned out, the voice had quite possibly saved his life as not one second after he had broken off the attack then the entire area where he had been was torn up with automatic weapons.

"What the…?" Xander exclaimed before instinct compelled him to jump once again to avoid another spray of bullets.

Bringing his katana up into a defensive position, he scanned the area he believed the bullets had come from but was unable to see more than several undefined shapes moving in the shrubbery and trees that grew at random spots in the park. Not that it mattered really as it occurred to him that even if he knew exactly where they were and how many he was nowhere near fast enough to close the gap between them without getting shot. Angered at the fact that his attack on the female vampire had been interrupted, he tried to figure out a way to finish the job.

Before he could do anything, something hit his leg and a moment later the world exploded around him. For a moment he felt, heard and saw nothing but the tranquil quietness of nothing. Then of course the comfy atmosphere was shattered has he landed on the cold, unfeeling ground but even with the landing clearing up his senses some, he could not make out clearly what was happening around him. All he could make out with his eyes were blurred shapes formed from indistinct colors. All his ears could make out were muffled voices as well as muffled footsteps and everything else was completely indecipherable.

Feeling around for his katana he found it a few feet away and once his right hand had it firmly in his grip, he tried to get back to his feet in order to defend himself from his attackers. Some of the darker colored shapes he could see took notice of this and charged him no doubt with the intent of making sure he stayed down. With his senses in such disarray he knew he would not be able to fight so many competently and win. All he could do was discourage them from approaching him and hope that whatever their objective was it didn't include killing him. So splitting his focus between willing away the disorientation caused by whatever they used on him and gathering his strength, he executed the one attack he could think of that might help him.

"Hiten Mitsurugi style: Doryusen!" he yelled as he slammed his katana with a downward vertical slash into the ground shattering it and sending both the ground in front of him as well as shockwaves at the approaching enemies.

Almost immediately after executing the technique he had to use all his considerable will power to keep from tumbling to the ground as his impaired senses apparently affected his sense of balance. However, as he looked back up to see if his attack had the desired affect on the charging enemies, he was relieved to see that they had indeed thought twice about their course of action and chose to withdraw. With the immediate danger out of the way, he tried to get his senses to work right again by taking deep breaths and closing his eyes. He needed to give the eyes time to focus and the ears time to stop the ringing they were doing before he'd be able to do anything else. It took awhile but eventually the noises his ears had earlier interpreted as thumps of various volumes and someone talking underwater began to clear up and sound normal again. Unfortunately it was the voice of a very angry Slayer and a slightly miffed 'good vampire' that he was treated to first so he was momentarily overcome with the desire to hit rewind on his progress but decided he might as well face reality.

"Xander what the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be home!" Buffy asked with a heavy dose of anger along with a side of surprise, "More importantly why did you attack Angel? He's on our side!"

"Yeah, well, he sure wasn't acting like it when I found him!" Xander replied with equal anger before glaring at Angel, "In case you've forgotten our team is supposed to **kill** everyone on their team, fang-boy! Not hold civilized conversations with them!"

"It's… complicated." Angel said in defense of his 'not killing the female vamp.

"What's so complicated? She vampire. She evil. Good guys kill bad guys!" he said not satisfied at all with the souled vamp's answer, "And what was with trying to stop me anyway? Not staking the vamp the second you got the chance was one thing, but trying to stop me from doing what you should've is another!"

Angel had nothing to say to this, although whether it was because he wouldn't say or couldn't say was anyone's guess.

In the end though, Xander didn't care one way or another.

Whipping his katana around a bit to get the female vampire's blood off of it, he then sheathed it before stomping off in the direction of the corner where he'd left the cardboard tube. Just as he was about to leave speaking distance he turned and decided to give the vampire with a soul one final warning.

"Get your priorities straight soon, Deadboy, or I'll straighten them out for you!" he said with deadly intent clear in his voice.

With that he turned his back on the Slayer and the souled vampire, never once looking back. Had he done so he might have seen the looks of both worry and fear on their faces for they had seen something he was unable to. When he had turned around to deliver that final warning he had done so with eyes that they had never before seen on the Zeppo. They were eyes devoid of any emotion at all and if that were not enough, they were neither the brown that he had been born with or even the twilight color given to him by the Halloween spell.

The irises had been a bright, glowing amber color.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Summers Home, Thirty Minutes Later, Xander's Room**_

_Maybe I'll feel better in the morning._ Xander thought to himself as he closed the door to his room and began to get ready for bed.

While he was still angry with Deadboy, most of it had evaporated on the way home so he was able to put on a normal Xander face for Mrs. Summers when he walked in the door. She had asked the usual questions like how he was feeling and if he had had a good time at the Bronze. He had said that it had been alright but that he had gotten blasted when he had walked a little too close to the speakers by the stage so his ears were ringing a bit. He had done that to ward off any suspicion if she yelled for him while he was in his room and he didn't respond right away. That was a safer excuse than telling her that he had been attacked by some kind of commando team with automatics and grenades.

With that thought his mind suddenly came to a complete halt as two questions jumped to the front. The first and most obvious was 'why were the commandos there in the first place?' with the second one being 'where did they come from?'. With the first, he came to the obvious but perhaps paranoid conclusion that they were somehow tied to the group of sword wielding bandits that he had dealt with the night of the exchange student costume dance. After all, that had been the only other time he had been present when a large, armed group had shown up. However if that was indeed the case then why didn't the guys he had fought with back then use guns instead of swords and spears?

Unable to answer the first question satisfactorily, he decided to move onto the second one and give his subconscious time to work it out for him. Thinking back to everything he had seen and heard in the park, he tried to discern if anything had changed between the first volley of bullets and Buffy yelling at him for hurting Deadboy. For a moment he couldn't think of anything but when he went over the info a second time he found his answer.

_The female vampire!_ He thought to himself as he latched onto the one absent figure after the commandoes had left, _What would a group of commandoes want with one psycho vampire?_

He supposed it might be a case of the cliché 'government messing with things it shouldn't' sort of problem but somehow he didn't think so. Slipping into bed and pulling the covers up close to his neck he decided he'd sleep on it and then run the whole scenario by G-Man tomorrow during lunch at school. Settling into a position that was comfortable for him he drifted off to sleep.

_Hopefully I'll have that dream where I get to save the day and make Angel look like a total idiot in front of Buffy._ He thought with a smile, _Either that or the one where I have to judge a wet T-shirt contest._

"I will not allow you to leave!" spoke the strong voice of a man to which the name 'Hiko' was attached.

With these words, he eyes seemed to snap open and he beheld an environment that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time. It was a clearing in the woods occupied only by a small stream, a twisted bare tree and a small shack of a house with everything covered in a layer of snow. He stood across from a tall man who stood looking away from him wearing a white cape with red trim over his shoulders and the black haired man seemed distinctly unhappy for some reason. Emotions common to people trying to plead their case to another when they believed they were right swept through him as he looked at Hiko.

"But Master, while you interpret philosophy innocent people are dying down there day after day!" he exclaimed pleadingly, "The teachings of Hiten Mitsurugi are fruitless unless they are used to protect the defenceless! We must go!"

"Be silent!" Hiko said sternly as if he was growing more and more frustrated, "How do you plan to defend those people with your limited knowledge? Will you choose the less loathsome of the two evil factions in that futile conflict and do its bidding? I do not bestow Master Hiten Mitsurugi's sweetest principles on you so you could become the pawn of nefarious men. You can change **nothing**. The troubles of the outside world are perpetual."

"And by virtue of that I am supposed to turn my back and live in self-ordained ignorance?" he asked incredulously, "I can't ignore them! They need us Master!"

"When your training is complete you will be the strongest of swordsmen and your mind will be as strong as your sword." Hiko said in an attempt to persuade the youth to remain with him awhile longer.

"The peasants who are dying in the grip of the Bakufu Alliance cannot wait that long Master! Your words are nothing to them!" he yelled, trying to make Hiko understand how pointless his philosophical words were.

"Go down there! Brand yourself a murderer!" Hiko said apparently through trying to use reason with the youngster, "Murder is the only art a swordsman can practice. No ornamental words can change that. You want to protect people with murder! You'll slaughter legions so that a few may live! Many years, long before you were born, my sword was tearing asunder the lives of men. Yes all of those men were evil but they were human beings first and foremost, Kenshin. The world you ardently desire to enter will not know what to do with you. It will deceive you into believing that you are saving lives even as you destroy them. You will accept its lies while your hands will be stained with the worst of offenses."

"Perhaps. Even so, my hands will bring relief to those who have learned to live without hope." Kenshin said deciding to take the same route of argument as Hiko, "A human being who feeds on his brother is not a man anymore! He is a **mad** dog and should be dealt the same fate!"

To this all the man known as Hiko did was begin to walk away in the direction of the shack sized house. Confusion and urgency filled him as though victory was beginning to slip from his grasp.

"Master! Listen!" he yelled attempting to keep Hiko from leaving in the middle of their discussion.

"It is foolish to listen to someone who will not listen to you." Hiko said with a wave of his left arm, "Do as you with! Go to them!"

"Thank you." Said Kenshin as he was pleased to at least gain half a victory rather than face complete defeat, "Master."

With those word the entire landscape seemed to change. Gone were the tree, the river and the shack that had once been prominent objects in the forest clearing. In fact, as he looked around, he could see that he was no longer in a clearing but rather standing at the beginning of a long snow covered path that led into a large forest. For a moment he dwelt in confusion as he did not know what to make of the change in his environment but that did not last as his feet seemed to take on a mind all their own, causing him to walk slowly down the path before him. He tried to stop them or at least discern why they were taking him in this particular direction but all he could sense was a growing atmosphere of dread. It was no more than a whisper to him at the moment, like a faint hum that you needed complete silence to detect, but he somehow believed that it would grow the further down the path he went. Deciding that this was not a good thing he tried to stop himself but it was useless as it seemed that his upper body and his lower body had signed a treaty and were now working against him. The only thing he could still move freely was his head and even that seemed restricted to being able to look around at the world around him.

_Might as well make the most of it._ Xander thought to himself as he looked about the path he was traveling down.

Looking about, he didn't find anything particularly spectacular about the path but it was while looking about that he noticed something that grabbed a hold of his attention and gave it a good hard yank. He was wearing the same outfit he had been wearing during Halloween! Looking down he confirmed it by looking for and finding every article of clothing that had been in the box given to him by the store manager of "Ethan's". It was as he looked down to this right hand that he noticed a new addition that for some reason threatened to send his emotions into a spiral of confusion. It was a blue strip of cloth, lighter than the top he was wearing, that might have been a scarf, a ribbon or something else entirely. In any case it was grasped tightly in his hand as though it was connected to something much more important.

With steady steps, he walked down the path towards whatever destination awaited him. However, as soon as he came to the conclusion that he would never reach that destination, a new element was added to this world he viewed. It started small at first, a light tap on his left shoulder, but then it was followed by another, and another until he was prodded into looking to see what it was that was tapping him. At first he thought it might have been a snowflake or a drop of rain, as he saw spots of darkened material on his haori. However, when he felt a drop of liquid hit him on the top if his head he reached up to confirm what it was and instead of the cool and smooth consistency of water, frozen or otherwise, the liquid was warm and sticky. Bringing the hand that had touched the liquid down to look at it he was shocked to find that it had turned the tips of his fingers red and it was then that he knew what was dripping down on him from above. As he looked skyward in the hopes of finding something non-alarming but as he did the random and light drops became a true rainstorm in form. Fear from not understanding what was going on, as well as fear what this could mean drove him to break into a run down the path ahead of him. However, it was not to get to the destination that had convinced his legs to walk this path but just to find safety and shelter from this down pour of blood.

For what seemed like an hour, he ran through the rain of blood, looking in every direction for some kind of shelter from this horrible weather. However, no matter how hard he looked, there was nothing but endless forest and as his chances for sanctuary continued to dwindle, so did his fear rise ever higher. Yet, despite his fear, he did not stop his search because he was certain that if he stopped, something even more horrible would appear to spur him onwards.

It wasn't until his thoughts returned to wondering just what was causing this rain that things changed. A fierce gust of wind seemed to come out of nowhere and tore the light blue cloth from his hands. It danced on the wind, becoming darker with every drop of blood that hit it, flowing down the path to a patch of darkness that had been limiting his field of vision from the beginning, preventing him from seeing where he was going beyond fifteen meters. Just as he thought that the piece of cloth would be enveloped by darkness, a bloody hand emerged from the mass of blackness to catch it in her hand; for it was indeed a woman's hand, from what he could tell.

For some reason though, this one hand seemed to inspire emotions in him more powerful than anything he had felt since he started down the path in the first place. Fear, guilt, sorrow and grief, all warred within him until all he wanted to do was run away from that bloody hand as fast as his feet could carry him. Unfortunately, he was rooted to the spot and as the hand became an arm his emotions continued to build, continued to grow higher and higher until he felt he would explode if he didn't release his feelings somehow. So with all the strength he could muster he opened his mouth and let out a yell filled with all the emotions the scene before him stirred in him for all to hear.

"Xander! Xander! Wake up!" cried a voice near him as a pair of hands shook him back into the waking world.

For a moment he knew not when or where he was and it was in this confusion that his right hand reached for the only thing his instincts told him could make him safe once more. However, just as his fingers touched the top of the katana's pommel the information on his location and status came to him stopping him in his tracks. He was in the home of Buffy and Joyce Summers. It was night and he was in their spare bedroom in his own bed. Most importantly, he was safe and the bloody hand that so affected him was nowhere to be seen. Looking in the direction he had heard the voice coming from a moment earlier he saw that Joyce was sitting on the bed next to him in her house robe looking at him with true concern. Buffy was on the other side of the bed and it had been her that had been trying to shake him awake. She was wearing a more casual set of PJs in the form of sweat pants and a tank top but she too had a look of concern on her face.

Realizing that he was breathing like he had been running a marathon for twelve hours straight with no rest, he closed his eyes for a moment in order to focus his efforts to relaxing his breathing along with everything else about him that had been affected by the nightmare. Bit by bit he managed to bring his breathing down to normal levels and his nerves were no longer as twitchy as they had been a few moments ago. Feeling that it was safe to open his eyes he did so and found that while both Summers women were still concerned for him they no longer felt it was necessary to treat him like a frightened child.

"What happened?" he asked, as much to find out just how much noise he had made to make them so worried as to make this seem like an ordinary nightmare rather than the hell it had been.

"You started screaming and whimpering like crazy is what happened!" Buffy replied clearly more concerned for his well being than angry at her interrupted sleep, "I wouldn't be surprised if the entire neighbourhood heard you."

Thinking on his feet, like he always did, he quickly came up with a normal but believable excuse.

"I just had a nightmare like you wouldn't believe." He replied as he wiped the sweat that was on his face off, "I dreamt that I was running from a mob of Snyder's dressed in drag trying to kiss me. Yech!"

This caused both Summers women to wrinkle their noses in disgust although Buffy definitely was doing in more since she had more contact with Snyder and hated the troll even more than her mother. Fortunately though, it had the desire effect of distracting them from other possible causes of his nightmare and dimming their concern somewhat. He doubted he could say anything that would get rid of their worry altogether but as long as he could convince them to put it off until tomorrow that would be alright by him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Joyce asked with typical motherly concern.

"Naw! I'll be alright. You two head back to bed." He replied as he made a show of curling up himself in his bed so he could get some sleep as well, "After all we have school tomorrow and I'll need all the strength I can get to take on Snyder's 'slacker' lectures."

This seemed to convince Mrs. Summers that he was right as rain and that whatever the nightmare had been about wasn't serious enough to make a fuss over. Buffy on the other hand, was a little more adept at reading him. Not as good as Willow in the least, but still pretty good. The look she was giving him was telling him that she knew something was up, was going to get it out of him, but for now was willing to let him get back to sleep. That was fine by him and with a few 'goodbyes' and 'goodnights', the two ladies of the house left his room to go back to their own. Half sighing with relief that he didn't have to endure a double trouble Summers women interrogation, he laid back down on his bed and tried to get back to sleep.

An hour later he was still awake. No matter how he contorted his body, he just couldn't get comfortable at all. No position felt right. Frustrated he threw the covers off of himself and sat up with his feet dangling over the edge of the bed. He couldn't figure for the life of him why he couldn't get back to sleep. It had been easy enough when he got back from that showdown with that female vampire but now it was like the bed had become a solid slab of stone. By chance his gaze swept over the swords that were even now still propped up against his bedside table. For yet another time, he cursed the owner of the costume shop, Ethan Rayne, for giving him this outfit instead of the one he had chosen. Thanks to that jerk, not only did he have a new look to cope with until Giles got what he needed to undo it, but also apparently had another mind to keep in check. Now it was apparently interfering with his sleep and he did not want to face the day dead tired and angry at something he couldn't hit.

_Still there's not much I can do right now so I might as well see what position this assassin liked to sleep in so he'll calm down._ Xander thought as he figured it was Battousai more than he himself that was keeping them both awake.

Reluctantly he dipped into the pool of thoughts, memories and instincts within himself that contained the Hitokiri Battousai. After what Giles had said about the guy in the library yesterday, he didn't want anything to do with the assassin seeing as how everything he had gleaned from TV, movies and books about assassins spoke poorly of them. They were apparently either cold killers without emotions of any kind or raving lunatics with blood and guts fetishes. Needless to say he didn't want to find out which one Battousai was unless he absolutely had to. Unfortunately for him, the need for sleep was enough to prompt him into taking a peek.

It was difficult to say the least, sifting through all the information he had compacted into one corner of his mind, considering how insignificant 'preferred sleeping position' probably was amidst everything else. Eventually though he found what he sought but it wasn't exactly what he expected either. Sighing he grabbed a pillow from the bed, placed it on the floor next to the bed sat down on it and after pulling some bed sheets around himself took the katana in his right hand before letting it lean against his right shoulder. With everything in place, he used the side of the bed like the back of a chair and closed his eyes in the hopes that he could finally get back to sleep.

Like clock work, it took less than a minute before he slipped off into the unconscious bliss that was sleep without even being aware of it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Next Day, Sunnydale High School, History Class**_

"Well, it seems like Louis XVI was just sort of a weak king." said Dan from the back of the class.

"That's fair enough. Uh, any other impressions?" the teacher asked no doubt hoping for a more thorough and 'I've actually read the chapter' answer.

Not that Xander thought the teacher was going to get one anytime soon with this crowd. Oh, she might get a good answer from one of the resident brains in the class, but everyone else was sticking to behaviour one would expect from high school students. Which was, of course, not doing any more school work than was absolutely necessary in order to keep their grades up and their nights free for partying. He was pretty much the same way, with the exception of the partying, in her frame of thought concerning school. He understood, of course, what the adults were trying to do and everything but he just couldn't stomach the hours of rehearsed lecturing. It was like watching the news, every once and a while something interesting did happen, but the rest of the time it was a complete snooze fest. After all, why should they care about what happened in some country two hundred years ago? It wasn't like the dead were going to suddenly come back to life and begin conquering America.

His mind paused for a moment and then he cursed himself for thinking such a thing when he was living right on top of the Hellmouth. It was thoughts and words like those that inspired the demons to try and do just that and the last thing he needed was zombie French soldiers yelling 'long live France!' marching all over California. Deciding to divert his attention elsewhere, he turned to look at Cordelia, who had just straightened up and looked like she was about to respond to the teacher's call for an intelligent answer.

_Man, is Ms. Vargis in for a disappointment!_ Xander thought to himself as he waited to hear what 'words of wisdom' Queen C had to impart to the class this time.

"I just don't see why everyone's always picking on Marie Antoinette. I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good, and people just don't appreciate that kind of effort." Cordelia said with complete conviction, but without the slightest grasp of the subject being discussed in class at the moment, "And I know the peasants were all depressed..."

"I think you mean 'oppressed'." Xander interjected not being able to resist correcting the high and mighty Miss Chase thereby making her look idiotic.

"Whatever. They were cranky." Cordelia said sparing only a moment to glare in his direction before looking back to the teacher. "So they're, like, 'Let's lose some heads'. Uhhh! That's fair. And, and Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake!"

Shaking his head at the utter stupidity and ignorance of the richest person in school that wasn't a faculty member, he wondered how Cordy had managed to make it this far without a brain of her own. After all, good looks would only get you so far with grades and he doubted that her answers on the tests or the assignments were any better than the ones she spouted off so far in class. The only answer he could come up with was that her parents had friends in the right places and enough money to raise their daughter's grade a letter or two. After all, given what the teachers here must make a year they'd probably be easy to buy off. Still, he didn't think it was fair that Queen C was getting by on cash and looks while the rest of them were forced to overwork their poor brains to get by.

_Oh well! I'm sure I'll have the last laugh when the wrinkles of old age and inflation force her to actually work to earn a living in this world. _He thought to himself as he turned away from Ms. Chase.

"Yes, well, that's a very interesting perspective." The teacher stated although it was clear she wanted to say something else, "Um, would anyone else like to comment?"

Fortunately for the students and maybe the teacher, the bell chose to ring at that time, signalling the end of History class and the beginning of Lunch time. Gathering up his books and making sure that the cardboard tube was securely tied to his backpack he got out of his chair and moved to hook up with Buffy and Willow who were just exiting the classroom. Being careful not to bump into any of the jocks and thus earn their wrath, he was somewhat surprised to get the feeling one usually attributes to being watched, only it seemed to be focused on two specific parts of his body rather than all over. Casting a seemingly random glance over his shoulder he sighed as he spotted a trio of young ladies looking at him with smiles on their faces and giggling every once and awhile. He had gotten the same treatment in both of his previous classes and while he might not know for certain the reasons he had a pretty good idea.

_Looks like plan 'not make my rep any worse than it is' tanked big time._ He thought to himself as he resumed his efforts to hook up with his buds.

While he had hoped that last night's little test at the Bronze would prove to be the standard response to his temporary new look, it turned out instead to be the exception. In both his previous classes he had been subjected to 'the pointing' followed by 'the whispering' before being nailed with 'the giggling'. Needless to say, he was pretty sure it wouldn't be long before he'd have to deal with the jocks since the V.I.P (Very Important and Pretty) girls had already gotten their shots in. He could just imagine the taunts, insults and put downs they were coming up with inside of their socially elitist minds. He hoped that he'd be able to be elsewhere when they unleashed them. Not that that would save his reputation in the school from sinking to the bottom of the social ladder like a stool pigeon with cement shoes. The damage, by then, would be done and he'd have to endure being known as 'the guy who wouldn't take off his Halloween outfit' from now until graduation.

_Oh it's good to be me!_ He thought to himself sarcastically

Lightly jogging until he had caught up to his friends, he was just able to catch the last few words of Buffy's statement.

"…so. They seemed pretty friendly." Buffy said in a distinctly gloomy tone.

"Who's friendly?" he asked even though he had a hunch about what the topic of conversation was at the moment.

"No one." Buffy replied with a tone that said she was still mad at him about last night and that she wanted the subject dropped.

"Angel and a girl." Willow supplied blissfully unaware of how the Slayer was feeling towards the Zeppo or towards the topic being discussed.

"Willow! Do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy exclaimed, apparently surprised that her friend would let a guy in on such a girl-girl topic.

"Buffy, it's not like she was letting out a big secret." Xander said as he came to his best bud's defence. "I was there at the time remember, so I know all about Deadboy and Psycho girl."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because now Buffy decided to retaliate.

"Oh, then maybe you could also explain your 'Get your priorities straight soon Deadboy or I'll straighten them out for you!' comment last night!" Buffy said with a level five glare as the three of them entered the student lounge.

"It means exactly what it sounds like it means." Xander stated simply as he dug through his backpack for the lunch that Mrs. S had made for him, "Deadboy was standing there, with a vamp, and not staking it. He needs to choose which side he's on **now** or it's gonna cost us down the road."

"He's on **our** side and you know it!" Buffy declared with fire in her eyes, "I'm sure he had a good reason for not dusting the she-vamp right away."

By now, Willow was a little more aware of the unresolved issue between her two friends and hastened to try and repair the damage.

"Now c'mon you guys! Let's not get all snarly at each other." Willow said as put her 'persuade' face on, "We can worry about Angel later. Um, how about we go back to the Bronze tonight and dance like there's no tomorrow?"

Both Buffy and Xander continued to glare at each other.

"Dance like we want to have fun?" Willow proposed with diminished cheerfulness but still optimistic.

Buffy's glare didn't budge an inch.

"Try to dance?" Willow asked as a last ditch effort to lighten the mood.

"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase." suggested a voice from behind the three of them.

Turning to see who exactly it was, they found a black haired teenage guy that looked like all the others that populated the school, but judging from how Buffy went from glaring to pleasantly surprised she recognized him.

"Ford?" Buffy asked with disbelief clearly in her voice.

"Hey, Summers!" Ford said in return with a smile on his face.

The two, seemingly old friends, embraced in a hug but for some reason alarm bells were ringing in Xander's head, or more precisely, in the part of his head where the Hitokiri Battousai was imprisoned. There was something about Ford that was making the assassin uncomfortable, but Xander didn't bother to pay the killer any attention. As far as he was concerned, the mind of the Battousai was just a tenant in the apartment building that was his mind. By tomorrow, he'd be gone, leaving Xander with only his own mind to deal with.

"How ya been?" Ford asked as he and Buffy separated.

"Oh my God! What are you doing here?" Buffy asked with a smile on her face.

"Uh, matriculating." Ford replied casually after a moment of pause.

"Huh?" Buffy asked with some confusion, as her vocabulary was limited to that of her generation and not humanity as a whole.

"I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred." Ford answered with a smile that said he enjoyed seeing Buffy clueless about something.

"This is great!" Buffy exclaimed, clearly happy at the prospect of being able to hang around with an old friend once again.

"I'm glad you think so." Ford said before turning his attention to Willow and Xander.

Again a sensation ran through him of wariness and mistrust. Again, it came from the tenant that he wanted so eagerly to evict as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this time Xander was a little more inclined to listen to it, as this guy seemed to be getting a little to chummy with Buffy. By chummy, he didn't mean 'friend-to-friend' but rather 'you will be mine' chummy and he didn't like it one bit. He already had Deadboy to deal with on the 'who will be Buffy's boyfriend' battlefield, he most certainly did not need another guy to deal with.

"I didn't think you'd remember me." Ford said as he seemed to reign in the charm a little.

"Remember you? Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth grade crush." Buffy said clearly enjoying this unexpected surprise and completely forgetting about her earlier quarrel with Xander.

_Yep! Definite competition on the boyfriend front!_ Xander thought to himself before saying "So! You two know each other."

"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed as if finally remembering that her current friends were present, "I'm sorry. Um, this is Ford! Uh, Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow!"

_Oh, so she remembers who we are huh?_ Xander thought mentally as Buffy and Ford sat down on one couch while he and Willow sat on another.

It wasn't so much the fact that Buff had forgotten about him and Willow for a moment that bothered him, but rather how focused she was on Ford. Okay, so seeing a friend after a few years is good, and being happy to see them is alright, but the blonde Slayer was glossing over the guy's explanation without so much as a twitch. She probably thought she had nothing to be worried about and no reason to think the explanations to be anything other than the truth. Fortunately, his mind wasn't nearly as clouded by past friendship and current joyous surprise and so he got suspicious.

"Hi." Xander said politely but without his usual cheer.

"Hey." Ford returned in an equally polite manner but with a little cheer to try and get the friends of Buffy to like him.

"Nice to meet you!" Willow said happily as she was clearly interested in learning what Buffy was like pre-Sunnydale.

"Uh, Ford and I went to Hemery together in L.A." Buffy explained before turning back to the man in question, "And now you're here. For real?"

"Dad got the transfer, and boom, he just dragged me outta Hemery and put me down here." Ford replied sounding a bit miffed at being removed from his high school without having a say in it.

"This is great! Well, I mean, it's hard, sudden move, all your friends, delicate time, very emotional, but let's talk about me!" Buffy said clearly as happy as could be, "This is great!"

"So, you two were sweeties in fifth grade?" Willow asked as she went fishing for info on 'Hemery Buffy'.

"Not even. Ford wouldn't give me the time of day." Buffy replied nostalgically.

"Well, I was a manly sixth-grader. I couldn't bother with someone that young." Ford said, playing up the role of the 'Big Man on Campus' being sought after by a newbie.

"It was terrible. I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls' song 'I Touch Myself'." Buffy stated also immediately.

_Oh yeah! Her defences are a complete mess around this guy. _Xander thought as he looked at the Slayer like she had just started talking about leather masks and whips.

Things were definitely taking a perilous turn as far as he was concerned, as it seemed Buffy was almost completely off-guard with Ford. True, she hadn't spit out that she was the Slayer or that she spent most of her nights patrolling the local cemeteries, but he was certain that given enough time she just might. That combined with the fact that the Hitokiri in him was yelling at him from its corner in his mind to not trust the guy. He decided right away to watch this guy like a hawk. If he turned out to be mistaken, then he'd apologize to the guy himself, but until then the teen from Hemery had better watch his step.

"Of course, I had no idea what it was about." Buffy stated trying to sound convincing but failing miserably as she looked back and forth between Willow and Xander to see if they believed her.

He just smiled and nodded while Ford looked like he didn't want to chance a comment one way or the other.

"Hey, are you busy tonight? We're going to the Bronze, it's the local club, and you have to come." inquired Buffy as she looked at Ford directly with a little bit of hope.

"I'd love to! But if you guys already had plans... Would I be imposing?" Ford asked behaving like the perfect guy.

"No, only in the literal sense." Xander stated with a touch of humor so Buffy would think he was just joking when in reality he was being perfectly honest.

"Okay then! I, I gotta find the admissions office" Ford said as he got up from the couch, "uh, get my papers in order."

_Yet another slip up! Guess this guy didn't put much thought into his cover story._ Xander thought to himself as yet another vote in favour of the 'this guy is up to something' ruling became known.

He'd have to play things carefully since he was now living with Buffy and wouldn't be able to slip out as easily as he might have if he was still living with his parents. Still, Buffy was worth it, and if this guys was planning something like a virgin sacrifice or something, he'd cheerfully **persuade** the guy to reconsider.

"Well, you know what" Buffy said as she stood up as well, "I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys in French!"

"It was good to meet you." Ford stated and with that the two of them were gone leaving one redhead and one Zeppo behind them.

Once the pair was out of sight, he was oh so tempted to make some smartass comment about what had just happened but reined it in since he didn't want word of it to get back to Buffy through Willow. He trusted his best bud more than anyone else but he also knew that she was a bit naïve and looked to Buffy to be her 'danger detector' when it came to guys. Thus, if Buffy was okay with Ford then Willow was okay with Ford and he was left with the choice of being openly hostile to the guy or keeping it to himself. He chose to play things close to the vest for the time being and hopefully some juicy evidence would pop up soon enough so he could send Buffy's old crush packing.

"Oh, that's what that song is about!" Willow exclaimed before going redder than a tomato dipped in ketchup.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


	7. Suspicions confirmed and plans thwarted

1_**The Bronze, Evening**_

It was a standard night at the Bronze with him, Willow and Ford attempting to get to know one another, although, for the newest possible Summers family member, he was a little more interested in seeing if he could find some more holes in the guy's story.

He and Willow had gotten to the Bronze early and hung out for the most part, waiting for Buffy to finish her early evening patrol when Ford had shown up. The young man had immediately locked onto them as 'friends of Buffy' and began chatting them up about the blonde Slayer. Oh, it was cleverly disguised as small time chitchat but he was able to see it for what it was fairly easily in his present suspicious mind set.

Willow had given him a couple of odd looks every now and then when his questions strayed too far from the 'polite' and wandered into 'mean' territory but that happened less and less. Once he had a better idea of what keywords and the like triggered her disapproving glares, he was able to dance easy enough on the edge between 'polite' and 'mean'. Unfortunately, Ford also apparently learned after the first few questions but what he learned was that Xander Harris might be onto him; which made his responses more vague as well as guarded. Didn't stop the Zeppo from trying to pick the guy's brain in order to get some inkling of what the transfer student was up to, but the limited progress Xander was having was getting irritating.

Currently, they were playing pool and this helped his Q&A session greatly, since when Ford was concentrating on making his next shot he was less able to think about his answers and thus unintentionally more honest. Just as he was about to poke a bit at what sort of transfer the guy's father had received, Buffy trotted up to them and he knew it was time to reign in his questioning just in case 'Big Sister' took offense to some of the questions.

"Ford! You made it." Buffy said happily as she stopped in front of the pool table.

**"**Wasn't hard to find." Ford said in his 'old friend' tone of voice.

"Buffy, Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition." Willow said giving her friend an idea of what had been going on before the blonde Slayer got there.

Willow had been quite the attentive audience when Ford had decided to regale them with info on Buffy's Hemery High School exploits. He to had been interested, but he had taken care not to let the stories divert him from his own private investigation. Still, he had to smile at the idea of ninth grade Buffy strutting her stuff on stage in a bathing suit. Oh, he was sure it was just your standard one piece bathing suit since there was no way in **hell** that the faculty or the organizers would permit bikinis or the like to be worn by the competitors. Add that to the whole 'beauty pageant Buffy' concept and he couldn't help but wonder what else his hero had done before coming to Sunnydale

"Oh, my God, Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill." Buffy exclaimed as some of her more embarrassing moments came to light.

"You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets." Ford stated with a little too much certainty in his voice.

_Could he know that Buffy's the Slayer?_ Xander thought to himself as he tried to disassemble the teen's statement mentally, _Or is he referring to something else entirely?_

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Ford, try not to talk." Buffy said warningly before turning and heading towards the bar.

Watching the Slayer go, he kept Ford's face in sight at all times to try and catch any hidden reactions or subtle changes that might give him some clue as to what 'Secret Guy' might be thinking. However when a certain corpse with a soul showed up, he found it difficult to focus his attention in three different directions at once so for the moment he removed Angel from surveillance.

"That's Angel." Willow said being ever so helpful.

_Time to see how he'll react when the 'potential boyfriend' route is closed off._ Xander thought before turning to Ford and saying, "He's Buffy's beau. Her special friend."

"He's not in school, right? He looks older than her." Ford asked looking a little miffed for what reason was unknown.

"You're not wrong." Xander stated trying to see just how far he could use this situation to his advantage.

After all, if Ford did perceive Angel as a possible obstacle to his plans, whatever they might be, it might be enough to get him to reveal his true intentions when new guy A tried to eliminate vamp B from the equation. Whether or not he'd step in quickly enough to keep Overbite from becoming dustbuster food was something he'd decide when he had to and not a moment before. Seeing Buff' and the corpse heading their way he shifted his concentration to focus almost completely without being obvious about it. If ever there was a time for the new guy to unintentionally give away his true nature it would be in close proximity to a serious obstacle.

"Didn't want that soda after all?" Ford asked as he noticed that the Slayer had come back without the drink she had gone to get.

**"**Not thirsty." Buffy tried to say in a normal voice but was obviously her 'I am angry at Angel' voice to those that knew the truth.

"Hey, Angel." Willow said trying to steer things back to happier pastures conversation-wise.

**"**Hi." Ford said holding his hand out for a man's handshake.

"This is Ford. We went to school together in L.A." Buffy said introducing the two with her mood improving as her thoughts turned from the vamp to her newly arrived old friend.

"Nice to meet you." Angel said politely but with a look in his eyes that said he didn't like the potential rival.

_Nice to know I'm not alone in the 'I do not like Ford' club._ Xander thought sourly, _Even if it has to be Deadboy._

"Whoa! Cold hands!" Ford exclaimed as he almost jerked his hand out of Angel's.

_If he's so shocked then why does he have that glint of joy in his eyes? _Xander thought as yet another anomaly about Ford presented itself before a realization hit him square in the forehead, _He knows about vampires!_

That realization sent his mind whirling as he tried to grasp all the implications of that one statement, especially what it could mean for his favorite Slayer. If Ford knew about vampires in more than a movie sense then it wouldn't be too big of a stretch for him to know about Buffy's slaying activities back at Hemery High. After all, if the guy hadn't been there personally for the infamous burning down of the school gym, he had to have heard something from the few human survivors of the incident. That made his sudden arrival in Sunnydale even more suspicious given the holes the Zeppo had already uncovered. He had seen Ford in daylight so he knew that the guy wasn't a vamp, so the question became that of what else could cause the guy to come after Buffy. Possibility after possibility went through his head but each one was discarded as being either too unlikely or just plain insane from his point of view.

_Guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on the guy from here on out._ Xander thought as he refocused himself on the outside world.

**"**Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight. Um... I'm a little hot." Buffy said with barely concealed displeasure as she turned to Ford, "You wanna take a walk?"

"Um, sure! That'd be nice." Ford replied somewhat unsure of where Buffy's request had come from.

"Okay, then, um... " Buffy said as she was a little thrown herself at his desire to go walking with her, "I'll see ya tomorrow."

With a few more exchanged pleasantries, Buffy and Ford headed for the exit leaving a redheaded genius, a vamp with a soul and one sword wielding Zeppo to entertain themselves. In the next few moments the unlikely trio had three different reactions to the absence of their de facto leader and friend. For him, it was to remain quiet and try to figure out what Ford's game was, for Willow it was an attempt to put the fun back into pool again and for Angel it was to pull a vanishing act that would make Batman jealous. Obviously Ford was bugging Lord Forehead a lot more than the Zeppo and that probably meant that Fang face was heading off to do some snooping.

_That guy needs to learn how to check guys out better_. Xander thought as he came up with a pretty good picture of what the vamp would do to try and get info. _After all, while he's probably going to beat on every snitch in town and break open filing cabinets in the school I will be checking out the local real estate companies for Ford's new digs and inquiring with a few teachers tomorrow 'on Ford's behalf'._

Three seconds later he reviewed what he just thought and fought the urge to vomit at the ways his first comment could be interpreted if anyone had heard it.

_I SO need to dust that vamp! _Xander thought vehemently, _He's starting to mess with my head in ways I don't want!_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**After History Class, Last Class of the Day**_

_Well that's seven for seven. _Xander thought as he left the classroom and headed for the Summers house, _Seven discreet questionings of teachers and seven denials that anyone named Billy Fordham has been added to their class lists in the last week._

It was beginning to look more and more like Ford was up to no good since last night. Under the guise of going to see a movie, he had snuck into the most popular real estate office in Sunnydale and looked at all the new sales. There had been nothing in the new houses or apartments area but surprisingly enough someone had rented out an old basement bunker a little over a week ago. It was officially designated as office space but held the possibility of being a large apartment from what he could see of the photos. Ford's name wasn't on the lease but that didn't exactly mean anything since it wouldn't be too difficult to make up an alias. He doubted that the real estate company would do too deep of a background check so long as the money was good and the possibility of bad P.R was low.

_Gives me a place to start looking though._ He thought as he spotted Willow heading for the front doors ahead of him.

Another thing that had made him a little concerned was how jittery Willow had been all day. It was like she was expecting a vamp or some kind of demon to jump out of a locker and bite her or something. He had tried to figure out what was going on but aside from his best bud's discomfort level rising anytime Buffy or Ford got close he had nothing else to work with. That either meant that something about Buffy and Ford had the redhead spooked or little Miss. Rosenberg had been drinking too much coffee again. Being a naturally nervous person, it was not very safe for the hacker to indulge in too much caffeine since that only made things worse. Willow knew this, so he had to assume that she had found something out about either Buffy or Ford that was making her freak out.

_Better find out what it is before she has a heart attack._ Xander thought as he picked up the pace to catch up with her.

"Hey! Willow!" he said as he came up beside her.

"Ahhh! Oh! Hi Xander." Willow said as she almost jumped out of her skin at the unexpected appearance of her friend.

"Hey, what's the what here?" he asked casually while watching her face for hints, "You look like you've just been told you might be held back at the end of the year."

This had the desired effect as less than three seconds later she swatted him on the shoulder before saying "Don't even joke about that Xander! Besides we both know that there's about as much chance of me being held back as there is Snyder being nice."

"Truer words were never spoken." Xander said with a smile as he slung an arm around her shoulders, "Still, you look pretty tense there, Will. You wanna tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?"

For a moment Willow looked indecisive, like she was weighing the benefits and costs of telling him, before spilling the beans entirely. From the visit by Angel last night, something he'd have to speak to Overbite about later, to the confirmation of Ford's lack of enrollment before ending with her failed search for a transfer in Hemery High's computers. Add it all up and you got Ford being a big fat liar as well as being up to something decidedly of the suspicious. He then let her in on his own findings and after coming up with a half assed reason why he'd check up on Ford before hearing what she had found out they both agreed they needed to get to the bottom of things.

While it might have been smarter to head to Buffy with this info, neither of them wanted to get the blonde Slayer worked up over what was essentially circumstantial info. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Billy-boy was selling them false info rather than coming clean.

_Then again this **IS** the Hellmouth so odds are he's up to something._ Xander thought as Willow told him of her plan to meet up with Angel, _Better tag along with Deadboy and Willow just in case they get into trouble._

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Alley Leading to the Rented Basement Bunker, Evening**_

"I double checked the address you gave me and all I could find out about it was that it's been turned into something called 'The Sunset Club'." Willow said as she, him and Deadboy walked down the sparsely lit alleyway, "Nothing incriminating that I could see from the computer records."

**"**He leaves no paper trail, no records, that's incriminating enough." Angel said obviously not willing to budge from his position that Ford was up to no good.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Dead Boy on this one." Xander said in agreement, "It's always a bad sign when you go looking for something and find next to nothing."

The more he had heard about what Willow and Overbite had managed to uncover, the more he was sure that Billy Fordham was setting up the blonde Slayer in a big way. The lack of a paper trail leading from Hemery High to Sunnydale, his reaction to Angel at the Bronze and the fact that he apparently hung out in a place designed to survive a nuke filled him with a deep distrust of the boy. Somehow he knew that when they stepped inside of the club up ahead he wasn't going to like what he'd find in the least.

"Could you **not** call me that?" Angel asked clearly annoyed by the nickname.

Xander just smiled as they stopped in front of the entrance to the club and Angel knocked twice on the door. A few moments passed before a view port slid open revealing a pair of questioning eyes.

"We're friends of Ford's." Angel said as though it was some kind of pass phrase in order to get entry into a secret society's lair.

Which it kinda was from a certain point of view, but that didn't make it sound any less corny to the Zeppo's ears. Still, a few moments later the door opened and they were let into a room that looked like a hastily put together underground club that wouldn't stand a chance of being officially sanctioned if people in authority knew about it. Add to that the fact that just about everyone else was either dressed like a Goth or similarly dark clothing and he had a sinking feeling he knew what the theme of the club was going to be.

**"**Boy, we blend right in." Willow said with a mix of sarcasm and nervousness.

She had a point since she with her bright striped shirt, him with his usual jeans-Hawaiian shirt combo and Deadboy's funeral home look they kinda stuck out a bit.

"Let's look around. You guys check out downstairs." Angel ordered before stalking off without another word to them.

"Sure thing Overbite." Xander muttered to himself as both he and Willow descended down the staircase to the lower level.

Being careful not to attract any more attention than they already were the two of them carefully scoped the place out, trying to see if they could spot Ford or get a feel for what this club was all about. Unfortunately, when they passed an open black coffin with a Dracula wannabe inside both of them got a pretty big hint about what the theme of the place was.

"Are you noticing a theme here?" Xander asked angrily as he watched the people around him idolize the one thing he hated the most.

"As in 'Vampires! Yay!'?" Willow replied not liking the stormy look growing on her childhood friend's face.

Before he could turn and tell Willow they were leaving a blonde young woman in a blue pre-1900s dress came up behind them with a hostess' welcoming smile on her face.

"You guys are newbies. I can tell." She said in a friendly tone of voice.

**"**Oh, no. We come here all the time." Willow said trying to deny what might get them in a little trouble if this place turned out to be 'members only'.

"Don't be ashamed! It's cool that you're open to it. We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones." The blonde girl said in a way that made it clear she completely believed the crap she was spewing.

"The Lonely Ones?" Willow asked with some confusion despite the vamp décor covering the place.

**"**Vampires." Replied Angel as he came up from behind them.

"Otherwise known as the dark and foul blood sucking fiends." Xander said just to make it clear where he stood on the matter.

"So many people have that misconception. But they who walk with the night are not interested in harming anyone. They are creatures above us. Exalted!" the Blonde Girl stated with clear belief in her voice.

"You're a fool." Angel said without hesitation and in a tone reserved for leaders about to take others into a situation that would kill them all.

"A dead fool if she and the rest of these idiots stay in this town much longer." Xander said knowing it wouldn't take long for the local undead to catch wind of this all you can eat buffet.

"You don't have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know." Blondie stated as she took offence to their tone and stalked off in a huff.

"Now nobody's gonna talk to us." Willow stated clearly not impressed with the way he and Lord Forehead had just acted.

**"**I've seen enough. I've seen this type before. I mean, they're children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark." Angel said angrily as he no doubt had a low tolerance for people willing to serve their body up as an entrée.

"Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story." Willow asked trying to get them to see another point of view.

"These people don't know anything about vampires. What they are, how they live, how they dress..." Angel began ranting before another club patron came down the stairs wearing an outfit exactly like his own.

With a normal human growl of anger and frustration, the vampire with a soul stormed out of the place no doubt to keep himself from doing something he'd regret later.

Deciding that since their primary source of muscle was leaving they would be smart to follow. Both he and Willow proceeded up the steps behind him.

"One thing I don't get is why Ford is hanging out with these guys if he knows Buffy is… you know…" Willow said trying to get her point across without divulging info inside enemy territory.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Xander replied as his hands twitched towards the cardboard tube that contained his swords.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Summers Home, Later That Evening, Xander's Room**_

"Damn fools!" Xander growled as he practically threw his schoolbag and the cardboard tube down on the floor as he paced about the room.

Despite his desire to tell Buffy everything right away so they could give Ford and his moronic friends a wake up call both Angel and Willow had convinced him to wait until tomorrow in the library with the others. Despite the fact that their suspicions about Ford looked to be easily enough to get the blonde Slayer to begin to doubt her 'old friend', Willow thought it might go better when they both had clear heads. Neither Deadboy nor he were entirely objective or rational at the moment and it would do them no good if Buffy just thought they were being a pair of jealous jerks. While he thought he could do a convincing job of being 'not jealous', he knew that Deadboy would be another story entirely. When it came to Buffy, he had about as much control over his actions as Buffy had where Overbite was concerned. Still, he couldn't help but wish he could do something to get those idiots in the club to open their eyes. They **WORSHIPPED** the very things that had killed his best bud and bro Jesse for God's sake! The **MONSTERS** that took his brother in all but blood away from him and these **idiots** treated them like they were **heroes**!

Throwing himself onto his bed rather than continue to stalk about the room in a furious frenzy he tried to convince himself that it wasn't their fault, that they had just been fooled by the media versions of vampires, that they just needed to be told the truth. While this did manage to quell some of his anger there was still enough inside of him he promised himself that he'd be there when Buffy went to confront Ford and his friends.

No **way** was he going to let his personal hero go into that lions den without back up of some kind and thanks to the lingering remnants of Hitokori Battousai, he could be that back up. He could tap into the assassin's skills just like he had when he had attempted to dust that female vamp the night before Ford showed up. While he might not use those skills to kill or even hurt those fools, he would definitely give them several reasons to rethink their plans in the forms of sliced weapons and trashed furniture. With more than a Slayer blinded by her desire to see her friend as a friend, they just might clue in that they had bitten off more than they could chew and let them leave without trouble.

With that plan firmly in mind, he decided he'd try to get some sleep so he'd be fresh and ready to tell Buffy the truth tomorrow. Putting a pillow on the floor he took his swords from the tube, sat down and soon fell to sleep. If he had stayed awake a little longer he might have noticed the door to his room open a crack and a shadow moving away from it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Next Day, Steps Inside Sunnydale High School, Noon**_

Sitting on the stairs eating lunch and talking about their classes neither he nor Willow noticed Buffy approaching them until she was right on top of them. Much of Xander's anger had dissipated thanks to a good night's rest but he was still dead set on going with Buffy when she left to confront Ford and his followers. He knew that Deadboy would likely be there as well but he still thought it'd be handy to have a swordsman present in case the vamps showed up for dinner. Turning around he watched Willow jump in surprise just as her blood pressure likely spiked a bit.

"Buffy!" Willow said excitedly and nervously.

For a moment it looked like Buffy might turn around or find some other way of avoiding them and right then Xander knew that Lord Forehead had gone ahead and told the Slayer everything. Making a mental note to tell the vamp off for trying to steal all the credit for himself, Xander waited to see how things would go in the present

**"**Did, uh, Angel...?" asked Willow apparently catching onto the same signs as he had.

"He told me everything." Buffy replied with her tone of voice letting them know she hadn't liked what she had been told.

"I'm sorry we kept stuff from you." Willow apologized with genuine regret on her face.

**"**It's okay." Buffy said with a smile that couldn't fool a village idiot.

"When Angel came to my room he was just really concerned for you, and we didn't wanna say anything in case we were wrong." Willow said as she explained why there was need for secrecy and everything.

"Did you find out what Ford is up to?" Xander asked just in case some new info had come up that he and Willow didn't know about.

"I will." Buffy said before turning to walk away with the determination of a Slayer on her face.

"Not alone you won't." Xander said grabbing Buffy by the shoulder to keep her from walking away before he can say his part, "Look Buffy I know this is personal for you but if Ford has done his homework on this there's no telling what he has waiting for you at that club. For all you know, he could have six people with tranq-guns waiting to take you out the moment you step inside."

Turning around, he could see that she clearly didn't want him to come along even though she appreciated the fact he was willing to help her out.

"Thanks Xander but I really need to handle this on my own." Buffy said as honestly and meaningfully as possible, "You're right when you say that Ford probably has something up his sleevebut I can handle it. Knowing's half the battle right? Besides you have enough on your plate with that Bat-o-saki guy running around in your head."

"Exactly why I should be going with you." Xander said although his voice held a bit of hesitation in it, "Look I'm the last guy to be singing assassin-boy's praises and everything but with his skills and me in the driver seat I know I can help you out!"

"And if the sword guy you have sitting in your head decides he wants a turn at the wheel? Do you really want to tempt fate by letting him cut loose inside that club?" Buffy asked trying to make him understand her point of view, "No I need to handle this on my own. I spoke to Giles and he says he should have the ingredients for that spell by the time the school lets out for the day. So stick around and let him fix you up okay?"

These were the questions he had asked himself more than once since he had discovered what went on in that club. Truth be told, he didn't know what would happen if he tried to tap into Battousai's knowledge at the club, given his opinion of the patrons there. For all he knew his anger towards them might link up with the assassin's own bloodlust and he could wind up slaughtering everyone there before Buffy stopped him. Add to that the fact that all the other times he had tapped into the hitokiri's knowledge it had always been warily and only as much as absolutely necessary. Would he be able to maintain that kind of control in the thick of things especially if the vamps turned out to be waiting for Buffy at the club?

"Fine. You be careful though okay?" Xander asked angry at the hand the Fates seemed to be giving him lately.

With a smile and a nod Buffy turned and headed away but whether it was to class where he and Willow would be going soon or off directly to Club Sunset he didn't know. He just hoped that the blonde Slayer thought things through and didn't let her feelings of friendship for Ford cloud her judgment. He understood the need to rescue a friend or steer them away from a dangerous path but he had a feeling that there'd be nothing Buffy could say that would get Billy-boy to change his mind about vampires. For some reason he felt that Billy Fordham was committed, for whatever reason, to being a vampire lover and perhaps becoming a vampire himself one day.

_Why would anyone revere those bloodsuckers much less want to become one of them? _He thought as he lost sight of the patch of blonde amidst the throng of students_, I just don't get it._

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_After School, Sunnydale High School Library_**

Walking into the library immediately after classes, Xander still couldn't get his mind off Buffy heading into that den of vamp-lovers alone. She was the Slayer, she had beaten fate already and he knew of no one stronger than her, whether it be physically or mentally. Reasons such as these popped up every few seconds to convince him that everything would be okay and he had nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, no more than a few minutes after a point in favor of Buffy's survival disappeared he was right back where he started. It had gotten to the point where he forced himself to focus on the spell Giles would be casting after school to get the Hitokiri Battousai out of his head. Not exactly something he was looking forward to considering the spell would be messing with his head, hair and eyes but it was an equal exchange between worries so it worked. Now though with the spell due to be cast in the next few minutes he found its hold over him lessening since one way or another it would be over soon. The same could not be said for the worry of whether or not Buffy was okay.

She had left for the Sunset Club at noon as she had been missing during all of the afternoon classes. He and Willow had done their best to cover for her by telling the teachers that the cafeteria food hadn't agreed with her and that she had gone home. Considering that over half of the people in the school thought that the lunch lady was planning to kill them, it was an entirely plausible excuse for leaving school around noon. However as he looked about the library and saw that Buffy was nowhere to be seen and he saw nothing to indicate that Buffy had even come here before leaving the school. That meant that from one in the afternoon until the present Buffy had not been seen or possibly heard from since leaving to confront Fordham at the club.

_Not good! Buffy might be determined to make that idiot friend of hers see the light but to take almost three hours is nuts! _He thought as he watched Giles come out of his office with what he presumed were the ingredients of the spells, one to detect what didn't belong and another to remove those elements, _What's taking her so long to check in?_

"Ah, Xander. Are you ready?" Giles asked as he took notice of the one who would be the subject for the spells set to be cast.

"Ready as I'll ever be, G-Man." Xander replied as he stopped in front of the main research table and looked down at the ingredients the Watcher had placed there, "So where do you want me?"

"Just sit down in any chair you wish. The spells themselves do not require that the person they are cast on be in any specific position." Giles replied as he took a book from under his arm and began to flip through it, "Now as I am sure you are eager to rid yourself of the remnants of Battousai in your mind and body, let us begin."

From there things went directly to incomprehensible for the Zeppo as Giles began to chant in a language that sounded like it had more in common with another dimension than good old planet Earth. Still it was probably just one of the many dead languages Giles knew plus a little of his own lack of talent when it came to the ones taught in classes at this very school. After all, it just seemed so incomprehensible to him why he should want to learn French when he had absolutely no intention of going anywhere that would require him to be able to speak it half decently. In fact the only use he could come up with for learning French would be to charm the ladies since some seemed to swoon if you could fake the accent well enough. Not that that would help him at all in this school since every date worthy girl already knew Xander 'geek' Harris by sight already.

_Thanks in no small part to Cordy setting the standard for all other female students to live by._ Xander thought sourly as Giles picked up a bowl with a fine blue powder in it.

In a move no doubt done with the intention that it be finished before any objections could be made, the Watcher tossed liberal amounts of the powder onto the Zeppo as if to try and turn his scarlet hair blue. Coughing a bit as some of the blue stuff got into his lungs, he was about to ask Giles what the heck dousing him in dust was all about when all of a sudden he could feel parts of him tingle. It was not a good tingle or even 'sitting-on-a-activated-washing-machine' tingle but something far beyond it and he knew that the spell was either complete or nearing completion.

As the chanting stopped his theory was proven accurate and so he waited for G-man to do his usual 'interesting' explanation of what had been changed by the Halloween spell and to what degree. However instead what he got was Giles flipping through the book again and actually tasting the blue powder he had used. This was followed by several minutes of running around the library taking random books off the shelf and reading certain sections of them before returning to the main table and re-examining the blue powder.

"Giles? Is something wrong? 'Cause you're kinda giving me the wiggins right now with all the pacing and the tasting." Xander asked as he tried to get the Watcher to fess up to what was the matter before something Hellmouthy happened.

"W-well it's just that according to the spell book I should now be able to perceive glowing shades of blue in various areas of your person, showing me where the changes are and of what type they are based on the shade of blue." Giles explained as he took his glasses off and began to vigorously clean them, "However when I finished casting the spell all but one of the areas I expected to be indicated lit up."

Getting increasingly nervous Xander asked "Which area didn't light up G-Man?"

"Your brain or rather your mind to be precise." Giles replied as he put his glasses back on, "According to the spell your mind is completely free of tampering of any kind."

Needless to say this floored the Zeppo since he couldn't understand how the spell could miss the instincts, feelings and memories of a cold-blooded killer. After all he knew he didn't… have…anything…like…that…before. It was then that Xander remembered the trip to the museum, the dream he had and the bloody encounter with the killers the night of the costume dance. Those things had happened before Halloween but he had more or less dismissed them as a bit of Hellmouthy weirdness passing through or his questionable before bed snacks. Now though, with this revelation by Giles, he began to wonder if there might be something more going on than any of them thought.

"Hey Giles? Is there a spell specifically to scan the mind?" Xander asked with anxiety barely concealed, "Y'know one that checks for spirit possession or something like that?"

"You mean to say that your memories of Hitokori Battousai might have been placed in your mind prior to the Halloween incident?" Giles asked with some surprise at both the Zeppo raising the possibility and not coming forward with the info beforehand.

With a sigh, Xander told the Watcher all about what happened at the museum, the nightmare he had that night and the voices he had heard the night the Japanese family was killed. From the sounds he heard that weren't really there in the museum, to the lingering sensation of pain on his cheek after waking up from the nightmare before ending with the voice that helped him beat the murderers as well as the ones that spoke to him on his way to Buffy's place. With each bit of information he could tell that Giles was feeling both upset that the Zeppo hadn't come clean sooner and concerned about the possible implications of these new disclosures.

"While I can understand your reluctance to think about these memory flashes Xander I still wish you had come to me sooner." Giles said before heading over to the book stacks in search of something, "For one thing it would have saved me quite a sum of money and I would have had a better idea of where to look for a remedy to your condition. Still I believe I know of a way to exactly determine what is wrong with you."

Finally finding the book he sought, Giles returned to the main table and opened the book to reveal a clear crystal shaped like an obelisk with a leather string tied around the top to turn the whole thing into a necklace. Taking the necklace out the Watcher placed it around the Zeppo's neck and then flipped through the book until he came to a specific page.

"By using this crystal in conjunction with a spell, it should be able to show whether these… discrepancies are due to a partial possession, soul remnant or something else entirely." Giles said as he held the book in front of him and began chanting, "Mind to soul, spirits that toll; reveal the source of that which is known, show us the threads of thought that have been newly sown."

With a flash from the crystal akin to that one would get from a camera's flash bulb, the spell was activated and all that was left was to wait for the spell to conclude its search of Xander's mind.

"Now in a few moments the crystal will glow a specific color which will show us the precise nature of the memories and sensations you mentioned." Giles said as he set the book aside in anticipation of spell's conclusion, "If it is some form of possession it will glow blue, if it is the remnant of a soul white will be the color and so on for every possible malady."

A few moments passed and right on schedule the crystal did indeed light up as both the Watcher and the Zeppo had expected it to but what was not expected was the color of the light. The look of surprise on the G-Man's face made it clear he had not anticipated this result and that seriously made the Xan-man worry, since Giles being surprised was the same as Buffy with an idea. Basically that all sane people should get to a safe distance as soon as possible if they wanted to keep all their parts and pieces.

Waiting with baited breath as the Watcher opened the crystal book once again to find out what the blood red glow emanating from the crystal meant, he hoped it didn't mean what he thought it meant. Ever since he had been shown the world of the demonic , deadly red had ceased to be a color associated with apples, cherry lipstick wearing beauties and was now currently associated with blood and those that drank it. He didn't even want to think of the possibility that he was either turning into a demon or had some P.T.D (possession transmitted disease) left over from the alpha hyena. That possibility would add a whole new level of trouble for him to have to worry about aside from the bone breakage from normal slaying related activities.

"Good lord." Giles muttered to himself as he apparently found what the color red meant in the crystal book.

"Giles? What's the what?" Xander asked fearfully, "You know it scares me when you start talking about the Almighty."

"Well, it seems Xander, that the cause of your condition was one that we never considered as a possibility." Giles replied as he closed the book almost without thinking, "I must say that I am rather astounded by it all."

"Giles? Explainy please?" Xander said getting a little irritable at the Watcher's delaying of the answers he wanted.

"Well it seems Xander that you have not had the memories of Hitokiri Battousai implanted or otherwise deposited in your mind as we first suspected." Giles replied trying to give off a calming atmosphere, "The truth of the matter is that you are the reincarnation of Himura the Battousai."

At that precise moment anyone and everyone within hearing range of the library heard one single word yelled at the top of some teenage guy's lungs.

"WHAT!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_One Hour Later, Sunnydale High School Library_**

"Iya! No!" was the first thing bellowed from his lips as he shot up into a sitting position on whatever smooth surface he had been laying on.

"Easy Xander! Easy!" came a voice to his right trying to urge him to be calm and settle down.

Looking in the direction of the voice he saw that it was Willow who had spoken with a look of deep worry on her face. For a moment he wondered how much time had passed since Giles had dropped the bomb of all bombs on him. Looking out the window he could see that the sun was at best an hour or so from setting completely so he guessed he had been unconscious for about the same period of time. He could still remember the feelings, the shock and disbelief, which had flowed through his entire being at the news which caused him to black out. Him, one Xander LaVelle Harris, was the reincarnation of a bloodthirsty assassin swordsman named Hitokiri Battousai! Ridiculous! There wasn't a blood hungry bone in his entire body! It had to be a mistake of some kind! A cosmic screw up! How else could you explain how the spirit of****a unrepentant killer could be reborn into the body of someone whose full name meant 'defender of mankind'! With these thoughts the emotions that had led to his blackout the first time around returned and began to build towards reaching their former intensity. He could feel his mind on the verge of shutting down again!

"Xander! Xander, we need you to calm down." Giles' voice said as it pierced through the storm of emotions currently dominating the Zeppo's thoughts, "I know this information must be overwhelming but it's not as bad as you think!"

"How? How Giles? You just told me that I'm the reincarnation of a bloodthirsty murderer! An assassin!" Xander exclaimed as he pushed down his emotions enough to converse coherently with the Watcher, "Tell me how it's not as bad as I think it is!"

"Well let us think for a moment shall we!" Giles replied showing a bit of annoyance in his voice, "How about the fact that you've been Battousai's reincarnation for over fifteen years and have not committed one heinous act in all that time? Or perhaps I need to remind you one of the basic rules of reincarnation is that those who are evil in one life get reborn into a terrible existence as karmic punishment!"

That made Xander pause and with him the maelstrom of emotions threatening to send him back into a state of unconsciousness. He had lived his entire life in a way not typical of what one would expect of a blood crazed killer and what Giles said about the rules of reincarnation did feel right.

"Besides Xander, it is one of the basic principles of the world that history is inevitably written by the victors and while the Imperialists did win I doubt they would have been entirely honest or thorough in their record keeping." Giles explained as he pressed his advantage, "During wartimes many acts that would seem unforgivable seem almost reasonable. In all likelihood the victorious Imperialists edited out any facts or events that would have portrayed them in a negative light. Therefore it is entirely possible that we in the present have an incomplete picture of who Hitokiri Battousai truly was and how he behaved."

With Giles' words of reason, the storm of emotions propelled by his own idea of who and what Battousai was began to lose strength. With the official version of 'the truth' under suspicion and no one around from that time to confirm or deny each fact there was no reason to believe that anything he had been told about Battousai was true. Oh he was likely from Japan and most definitely a swordsman but aside from that there was nothing in the history books he could trust concerning the famous Hitokiri.

"It is as my father once told me when I was about your age" Giles said in an oddly reflective tone of voice, "'is it who you were that is important or who you are that matters?' and that is a question you must ask yourself now Xander. Does knowing who you once were in a past life really matter or is it who you are right now that counts?"

_See, now this is why I let Giles do the thinking_! Xander thought as the emotions that minutes earlier had threatened to overwhelm him faded into formless mist.

"Thanks, Giles." Xander said with a genuine grateful smile on his face.

"You're quite welcome." Giles stated with a 'you are welcome' grin before looking at his watch, "Hmm. Buffy is late for her early evening training sessions. Do you know where she might be?"

"Buffy! Shit!" Xander exclaimed as he hopped off the table and darted to the open office door in order to get the exact time from the clock inside.

5:25 p.m

"Xander? What's wrong?" Giles asked looking concerned at the sudden change from relief to panic.

"Giles, Buffy went to confront Ford at his vamp loving club right after lunch." Xander replied grimly as he walked right over to the tube tied to his backpack, "If you don't know where she is and no one else has that means she's been M.I.A for almost four and a half hours."

"You don't think--?" Willow began to ask as the hacking redhead began to think up bad possibilities with her genius mind.

"I'd say it's almost a certainty that she's in trouble and Ford has something to do with it." Xander replied as he took out both his katana and wakizashi before sliding them into place beneath his belt on the left.

"While I will admit to some concern, I'm certain Buffy can handle a few misguided teenagers." Giles said in an attempt to forestall any jumps to conclusions.

"Giles, these guys were smart enough to rent a bomb shelter as their base, study their target and use the one piece of bait that Buffy couldn't ignore." Xander said making a few adjustments to the positions of the blades on his left hip, "I doubt they'd do all that planning and not take into account that their prey could throw them around like rag dolls."

"Let's go then." Giles said with concern as he realized that the young man was right.

After a quick stop at the weapons case in the book cage Willow, Giles and Xander set out for the Sunset club to rescue their friend.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Sunset Club, Inside, 5:50p.m**_

"Just ten more minutes until sundown." Ford said to the inner circle of his little band.

Diego and Chantarelle smiled with anticipation of the 'gift' they were prepared to receive tonight when the vampires arrived. They and all the other regular patrons of the club had believed him when he had approached them with the plan to be turned and achieve true immortality. To them, it was all too logical: rent a suitable location and start up a club, have him make contact with the Slayer and lure her there, use a combination of tranq guns and stun guns to knock her unconscious and then wait for their sires to arrive.

Of course, unlike them, he had more insight into the way a vampire thought than the rest of the sheep around him. They were all too stupid to look beneath the surface of all the stories and tales about the undead and see the truth. He, however, was different. He knew that while handing them the Slayer would definitely make the vampires he dealt with happy, it was by no means enough to justify turning a large group of people. No, for that an even bigger offering needed to be made, and for him, that meant serving up all his 'friends' for the nosferatu to drain dry. That and that alone, would secure him the honor of being turned into one of them and finally cheating death that plagued his body even now. All he had to do now was keep Buffy drugged and the rest of the fools here blissfully ignorant of what was about to happen to them.

"How long do you think it'll be before they get here?" Diego asked as he shot a glance at the unconscious Slayer tied to a chair.

"Not long. With the Slayer all tied up here waiting for them, I give them twenty minutes tops before our sires get here." Ford replied as he took a sip of his drink, "So chill out and think about what you plan to do for the rest of eternity."

Like the mindless fools they were, both Diego and Chantarelle believed him without question and left to enjoy their last moments of life. All he did was smile at how everything was falling nicely into place just like he had planned it from the beginning.

From the moment he had discovered the existence of vampires at Hemery High, he had devoted all his free time to finding a way to convince one of the undead to turn him. Each time his parents had taken him in for chemotherapy treatments, the pain and nausea he felt only provided him with further incentive to look for a way to escape the slow painful death that was coming. It had been only three months ago that he had come upon the key to his escaping death and achieving immortality. Piecing together bits of eyewitness accounts to the burning down of the school gym along with descriptions of the Slayer, he had discovered that his old friend Buffy Anne Summers was a Vampire Slayer.

With that information at the core, he began to plan it all. From the gathering of the 'cannon fodder' to the renting of the bomb shelter and most recently laying the bread crumbs out for Buffy. Now, in a few short minutes he would receive his big payday and death would be denied its prize of his soul. The idea that he would soon no longer need to worry about death and have a limitless number of tomorrows to look forward to filled him with joy.

_Soon. Soon I will have nothing to fear at all._ Ford thought with a smile as he imagined what the future would hold for him.

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs on the other side of the metal door that had been used to keep Buffy inside reached his ears and some confusion entered his mind. Who could that be? The sun was still up outside so it was unlikely that the vampires he had made the deal with had come. True, he supposed if they used the sewers and kept to the shadows, they could avoid lethal exposure to the sun but why take the risk?

He had assured them that the Slayer would be completely bound and unconscious when they arrived and had even explained his plan to them so they could see how it couldn't fail. It was possible that it was a few more 'true believers' coming at the last minute to become a part of the grand change, but that was unlikely. After Buffy's friends had left, he had announced to everyone there that the time had come for them to cast off their lives as mortals and prepare to embrace immortality. Everyone had been told to be here by no later than twelve noon or else they would miss everything. Therefore, unless it turned out to be followers of the truly dimwitted sort, it couldn't be any more sheep.

Could it be Buffy's friends come to look for her? Possibly. Even though he had tried to make sure that the Slayer would come to 'face him' alone and without any back up waiting in the alley.

No sense taking chances. He thought before turning to those that had been assigned the tranq guns and stun guns and saying, "Get into position, just in case it isn't the Lonely Ones."

With nods in the affirmative, both teams of six moved into position at various strategic points on the first and second levels of the bunker. With three of each team on each level they'd have the only entrance covered pretty good. Those with the tranq guns would take positions giving them the best line of sight possible on the door while those with the stun guns would be closer to the door in hiding waiting to attack targets of opportunity. With such good coverage, even if Buffy's friends attempted a rescue, it would be a waste of time and just give him a few more sacrificial lambs to give to his sire. Looking to confirm that everything was in place, he smiled at what an amusing pre-rebirth show this would be for him.

However, what Ford could have never anticipated was that Mr. Murphy would be watching his little plan unfold and decide to his own little spin on things to spice matters up a little. So it was with no little bit of surprise when in the space of three seconds, two diagonal cuts were made in the door from corner to corner causing it to crash to the ground with a clang.

So unexpected was the sight that for a few seconds after the destruction of the door both those armed with stun guns and tranq guns stood frozen in shock. As it turned out that was all the crimson haired demon on the other side needed to cross the threshold and began laying into his band of armed followers.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Steps Leading to the Bomb Shelter Door, 5 Minutes Earlier**_

"You know, they're gonna hear us coming." Xander said as the trio of him, Willow and Giles looked down the steps that would lead to the Sunset Club.

"Indeed, but we have little choice but to proceed." Giles stated as he made sure quiver holding his crossbow bolts was securely fastened to his hip, "Any vampires that Mr. Fordham has made a deal with will be along shortly and I think we would all prefer to be long gone when they arrive."

"Assuming they're not in there already." Xander stated as his mind came up with a worse case scenario.

"Perhaps, but let us try to remain optimistic, Xander. Buffy would have sensed if there were any vampires present upon entering the room and would have sense enough to retreat rather than box herself in." Giles said trying to keep his two charges from becoming pessimistic about their chances.

"In any case, there's no telling what they have in there but I bet a month's Twinkie supply that it's a little more sophisticated than blunt objects and their fists." Xander stated as he used his left thumb to loosen his katana from its scabbard, "Let me go in first Giles. With Battousai's skills, I should be able to take out at least some of what they might have waiting for us before they have a chance to react."

Giles looked at him somewhat reluctantly and the Zeppo could tell the Watcher was concerned about what sort of harm he might do with such lethal weapons.

"Don't worry Giles, I'll make sure to hit them with the back of my blade." Xander said, trying to convince the older man that he could do this. "Willow saw Battousai do it on Halloween which means I should be able to do it too."

Giles looked over to Willow to confirm his claim and when the budding hacker nodded, he too nodded giving Xander permission to go in first. Silently, he unsheathed his katana completely and took the lead with the Watcher and the Hacker following a safe distance behind. As he reached the bottom he could hear sounds of movement through the door and knew that Ford and his buddies were getting ready to roll out the red carpet for them.

Deciding it was time to throw a little surprise into the mix he motioned with his free hand for the others to stop before getting into a ready position with the sword in front of the door. Closing his eyes he looked within himself for the memories of his past life as Battousai and the skills the man had possessed as a Hitokiri. He knew that this would be unlike anything he had done before including that little skirmish with the female vamp that Angel refused to stake. This wasn't a lair of vampires he was about to enter where he could slay targets as they became available but a group of jackasses who were one hundred percent human. Therefore, lethal force or even moves that would do more than give them superficial cuts were out the window. This would also require him to give a great deal more control over to his past self than he had last time and given the instincts that probably came with being an assassin, he'd have to watch himself closely the entire time. No matter how good the guy had to have been to be reincarnated into Xander Harris he was still a professional killer and that meant that lethal force was easier for him than leaving enemies still breathing behind him.

_Just remember what Giles said and everything will be okay._ He told himself as he opened his eyes and put his game face on. _Concentrate on getting Buffy out of there and worry about the morons later._

With that thought in mind, it was time to get the show on the road and he knew just how to start things off. Gripping the sword handle with both hands he centered himself and then with two lightning quick slashes, going from corner to corner and top to bottom, he cut the steel door into four pieces. Less than a second after he had finished the final cut, the door fell to pieces with a clang leaving a clear entryway for him and the gang to enter. He did not stay to admire his work though because he knew that his dramatic entrance would only stun those inside for a few moments and those were moments he needed to take full advantage of right away.

Charging inside, a quick glance around told him everything he needed to know about the situation and what he'd need to take out as well as in what order. Darting to the right he brought his blade down in a vertical slash cutting through the stun gun being wielded by one of the club goers before kicking what was left of the weapon in the direction of one of the men holding a tranquilizer gun. Just as he had anticipated, the man lost his focus on firing in order to avoid the sparking piece of metal flying through the air towards him. This gave Xander all the time he needed to cross the distance between the two of them in order to deliver an upwards diagonal slash slicing the gun in half just shy of the man's fingers. A swift elbow to the man's jaw knocked him down and cleared a path to the second person with a tranq gun who was just beginning to bring the weapon to bear on the Zeppo.

However, with a few swift moves he learned from playing dodge-ball in gym class, he zig-zagged in and out of the crosshairs faster than the idiot could correct his aim. If the guy had been a professional marksman instead of a teenager, the young man might have tried to time his shot for when Xander would next enter the crosshairs. Since he wasn't though, he kept trying to re-aim the weapon again and again giving the reincarnated swordsman time enough to get into range and disable the threat much as he had the last one.

_Hope the others are doing as good as me right now._ Xander thought as he risked a look out of the corner of his eye back towards the entrance.

From the brief glance, he could tell that Willow and Giles had managed to take out both the person with the stun gun on the left side of the door as well as the last person with a tranq gun he had spotted upon entering. However that was where their progress had stopped as they were forced to seek cover from the three remaining gun wielders on the lower level. Those people had to be taken out before any attempt could be made to rescue Buffy and it looked like he was the only one of them in a position to do anything about it.

Running towards railing before him, he let the Hitokiri's instincts guide him in what to do next. Leaping into the air, he waited until he had cleared the railing before reaching out with one hand and grabbing the metal he had passed over, causing him to arc downwards. Releasing the railing before he wound up slamming himself into the concrete that made up the upper level, he let himself drop to the ground and by pure chance dropped right onto one of the three remaining wielders of the tranquilizer guns.

His landing wasn't exactly stable but with a little extra bending in his knees he managed to keep from falling on his ass. Pushing off the now unconscious enemy, he darted across the room to the closest of the remaining two gun wielders. This was a little more difficult as the density of the assholes down here was much greater than it had been on the upper level, but thankfully, his surprise entrance scattered many of them in his immediate area. His unexpected arrival also had the benefit of causing two of the three people with the tranq guns to turn away from Giles and Willow in an attempt to deal with him.

_Hopefully they'll be able to take out the last one and get down here._ He thought as he brought his sword up to disarm his target_, 'Cause I don't much like the idea of trying to dodge the people with stun guns given the significant lack of maneuvering room._

With a quick slice and elbow shot to his target's jaw, he turned to move onto the next target only to find that one of the club patrons had apparently decided to grow a brain. With a stun gun in one hand and a young woman armed with a tranq gun standing next to him he had Buffy by the throat making it clear what his intentions were.

"Okay, that's enough! You three stop right where you are or I send a couple thousand volts right into your friend's brain!" said the teen with the stun gun that had to be wearing the most ridiculous vampire/Goth outfit he had ever seen.

_Not good._ Xander thought as he glanced at the distance separating him from Buffy.

There was at least twenty feet between him and the chair where Buffy was tied up and even with his reawakened skills, the odds of him being able to cross that distance before the idiot pulled the trigger on the stun gun was small. A part of him wondered if he could chance it, since Buffy was the Slayer. Her super fast healing might be able to handle any damage the volts did. The idea was quickly discarded though, as there was no way he was willing to save Buffy only to find out later that she'd be brain dead for the rest of her life. With charging in no longer an option that left talking and maybe his best improvised Dirty Harry impersonation. After all, these were just a bunch of kids his own age, not hardened warriors like the ones he took out after the costume dance weeks ago. No way would they have the stones to put their own lives at risk when the pressure was on.

"No, I don't think you will." Xander said as he put the katana in a more relaxed position, "After all, she is your only bargaining chip and once she's gone, there's nothing to stop me from using this sword to make you a head shorter."

This most definitely got everyone's attention, including that of Willow and Giles, the latter of which was no doubt beginning to wonder if his earlier pronouncement of his ability to keep Battousai at bay was in error. Hopefully he'd clue in. Otherwise, he'd unintentionally wind up joining the morons as far as number of obstacles went.

"Yeah right! You and your pals are the good guys!" the laughably dressed teen said with a laugh, "You won't hurt us! You think we'll believe a load of crap like that after watching you knock the others out instead of killing them? Don't insult my intelligence!"

The fool was putting on a brave front but Xander could tell it was barely more than skin deep. He knew he was backed into a corner and was grasping at anything he could find that stood a chance of getting him what he wanted and out of here at the same time. All that would be needed would be one final push and he'd cave for sure.

"Given that you and your pals are here planning on serving yourselves up to a bunch of vampires because of some romanticized 'Interview With a Vampire' crap version of the truth, I didn't think you had any intelligence." Xander said mockingly before turning dead serious, "As for being the 'good guys' I think you have us mistaken for the other guys. See, all my friends and I are interested in is killing vamps as well as any demons that cross our paths. Since you all seem determined to join the ranks of the undead, my friends and I would probably be saving ourselves some time killing you now. Right, Giles?"

_C'mon G-Man! Catch onto what I'm trying to do here!_ Xander pleaded as he waited for the Watcher's reply.

"I-indeed. If you lot have lost the cerebral capacity to comprehend the mistake you'd be making in turning yourselves over to the vampires, then you are all lost causes." Giles stated a bit unstably at first before firming up his voice, "As the war my friends and I are fighting, is a most arduous one. We can't afford to let you bolster the enemy ranks by so much as one person. However, if you'd be willing to release our friend, unharmed, to us it might inspire us to give you the benefit of a doubt as to what path you will take."

"So there you have it! Release Buffy and live, or keep her and we save ourselves the hassle of hunting your undead asses down later." Xander said as he brought his katana into an offensive based stance, "What's it going to be?"

"Gee, tough choice!" said the young woman standing next to the clown vamp dressed idiot before she turned and shot a dart right into the chest of the fool with the stun gun, "It was getting boring anyway."

Needless to say, everyone in the room was dumbfounded by the young woman's actions and watched with slack jaws and wide eyes as she just trotted out of the club as if they weren't even there. Willow unexpectedly was the first to recover and what came out of her mouth was probably the central theme of everything that was going on in everyone else's heads at that moment.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_Sunnydale High School, Library, Two Hours Later_**

"Ooohhh! What hit me?" Buffy said a little woozily as she sat up on the table.

"Well, I wasn't there personally but probably a couple of tranquilizer darts along with many volts of electricity." Xander said as he steadied the unbalanced Slayer.

"Xander?" Buffy asked rhetorically as she turned to look at him.

"Yep! Little bro Xan-man made the big save and rescued you." Xander said sounding like he had done it all single-handedly.

Of course this was met with a few fake coughs from Giles and a glare from Willow who didn't like their own contributions being edited out.

"Naturally though, I couldn't have done it without my able bodied side-kicks, Tweed Guy and Hacker Girl." Xander quickly added which got him rolled eyes from Giles, a shaking head from Willow and as he had hoped a giggle from Buffy.

It was then though that the blonde Slayer took notice of his still red hair and unchanged twilight eyes and that got him a big look of surprise.

"You still got that Batty guy's hair! Didn't the spell work?" she asked before looking over to Giles for her answer.

"Yes, well, it would seem that while the more cosmetic parts of Xander's costume were readily identified by the first spell, there was nothing to be done about changes to his mind." Giles replied before indicating that Xander would finish the explanation.

"Looks like the memories and everything I have of Battousai weren't placed there by the spell on Halloween, Buff'." Xander said with a little discomfort from the truth showing, "Turns out I'm the reincarnation of one Hitokiri Battousai."

"Oh." Was Buffy's only reply to that bit of news before her mind went off in an entirely different direction, "Where's Ford? I am so going to give him a piece of my mind!"

"We looked for him after we cut you loose from the chair, but he was long gone." Willow replied a little disappointed herself that she didn't get to give Billy-boy a piece of her mind.

"Indeed. However with his desertion and Xander's rather heavy handed approach to negotiation, I think we can take some satisfaction in that we managed to scare those imbeciles at the club away from any future dealings with vampires." Giles stated while adjusting the position of his glasses a bit.

"That's something at least." Buffy said in agreement before swinging her legs over the side of the table and getting to her feet.

Unfortunately her sense of balance was still a little off center as she wobbled a bit before Xander stepped in and steadied her.

"Easy there twister-girl! Let's get you home and into bed so you can sleep the rest of the knock out juice off." He said as he helped guide her towards the library doors.

"What about patrolling tonight?" Buffy asked since she knew that she still had a job to do.

"Given the excitement you've had and your current condition I believe I can permit you a night off." Giles stated before grinning a bit, "Just this once of course. After all what could happen?"

If the gang hadn't been distracted by the condition of their blonde friend and the events at the Sunset Club they would have stared at Giles in disbelief while the Watcher said 'oh bugger'. After all, there were a few select phases and words that you simply did not say on the Hellmouth and unfortunately 'what could happen' was one of the more dangerous.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Streets of Sunnydale, Heading Towards the Bus Station, Same Time**_

"Damn that sword swinging freak!" Billy Fordham growled as stomped his way down the sidewalk towards the bus station, "He ruined EVERYTHING!"

Two and a half hours ago.

That was how long ago things had been going so smoothly for him and he had felt secure in the knowledge that he would soon beat the tumors that were slowly tearing his brain apart. He had planned so thoroughly, taken everything he could think of into consideration, just to make sure that nothing could go wrong. He had even asked around at the school for the dirt on Buffy's friends so he could factor them into the equation. By all accounts they were just a bunch of Slayer wannabes riding on Summers' back while she fought the vampires and the demons. Add to that the fact that Xander was supposed to be a dimwitted weakling and Rosenburg a mousy computer geek and he had thought that the only possible threat to his plans would have been Mr. Giles. While he didn't exactly know what the old man was in relation to the Slayer, he figured it had to be something like an advisor or researcher. Harris, Rosenberg and Giles were supposed to be petty annoyances at best that could be easily dealt with through the use of a few tranquilizer darts. Nowhere in his research had there been any mention of Xander possessing inhuman swordsmanship or speed that would put the greatest samurai master to shame. The glowing golden eyes were a sure sign that he wasn't completely human; he had figured that out in the first few seconds of the fight, but he couldn't think of anything that matched Harris' description from the few demonology books he had acquired. In short because of one unseen element his entire plan had not only been rendered worthless but also necessitated a speedy departure from Sunnydale.

Not that he was afraid of Summers and her friends, but the vampires he had made a deal with wouldn't be pleased when they found the club minus one Slayer. The undead gang would likely gorge themselves on any sheep they found there and vent their anger on them, but he had no doubt they'd remember him for a long while afterwards.

If he stayed in Sunnydale, it would only be a matter of time before they found him. He doubted very much that his death at their hands would be a quick one when they finally got their hands on him. So, for now, his only choice was to leave and come up with some other way to beat the illness that would kill him in six or so months.

So deep was he in his own thoughts that he never noticed the black limo gliding up next to him until he was side by side with the rear door. His first thought was that it was some rich snob looking for directions to the rich part of town, but then he thought that was impossible given how small the town was. So, given the foul mood he was in, he decided to just ignore the rich brat and hopefully they would take the hint and leave him alone.

The passenger in the limo was apparently determined because despite Ford's refusal to even look in the limo's direction the window rolled down revealing a distinguished looking businessman smoking an expensive cigar. He was definitely one of those Wall Street types, the sort that had money to burn, but there was also a feeling of something dark about him that Ford had only felt in vampires up until then. Of course, compared to him, vampires might as well be a lit match compared to the torch of darkness he could feel coming off of this guy. Deciding to at least hear what this guy had to say, he came to a stop and turned to look at this mystery man. The limo did likewise come to a stop leaving only a door between himself and this unknown businessman.

"You were so close tonight, weren't you, Mr. Fordham. Another hour and you might have achieved your goal and escaped the tumor eating away at your brain." The Businessman said in an omniscient way, "Such a shame that it all had to be spoiled at the last second by Xander Harris."

"Look, whoever the hell you are, if all you want to talk about is that, we have nothing more to say to each other." Ford said in barely restrained anger at this stranger rubbing his face in his defeat.

"Please, don't take my words the wrong way, Mr. Fordham. I am actually quite impressed with the thought you put into your plan and the ease at which you were willing to sell out your friends to the vampires." The Businessman said with a hint of actual respect in his voice, "How would you like a chance to not only get even with Xander Harris, but also to escape the tumor in your brain at the same time?"

"What? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Ford asked, but reigning in his anger as best he could just in case the deal was on the level.

"No, I am quite serious. Agree to my offer and not only will you not have to worry about dying any time soon, but Mr. Harris won't know what hit him when you come for him." The Businessman said before taking a puff of his cigar, "So, are you interested?"

It took Billy Fordham surprisingly little time to decide, but on examining the young man's situation what did he really have to lose.

"Deal." Ford stated with conviction.

"Excellent." The Businessman stated as he opened the limo door and welcomed his newest acquisition inside.


	8. A Storm's a Brewin'

**_Sunnydale Cemetery, Late Evening_**

"Hey look boys! Dinner!" the lead vampire said with humor in his voice and his kind's thirst for blood.

Their target however says nothing, he doesn't need to, because in a few moments the targets of his words would be ash in the wind. He watches as they begin to encircle him, like a pack of wild dogs that have found their prey and wish to eliminate any possibility of escape, and he does not show the slightest sign of fear. This puzzles some of the vampires as they usually see their prey frantically looking for a way out by now or at least begging for their lives. Most of them however disregard this anomaly figuring the young man must be either mentally challenged or not realize the kind of danger he was in. It didn't really matter either way since as far as they were concerned this scene would end the same way it always did. Their leader would get first bite of course since it was his right as the oldest and most powerful among them. A few hoped that he would leave at least a few mouthfuls for them rather than drain the entire body like he sometimes did. It might be a smart move to belong to his gang but it was a pain when you were trying to quench your thirst first thing in the evening.

"A tough guy huh? Not afraid at all are ya?" the lead vampire stated as he walked around the redhead teen that was looking at them as if they weren't there, "You got stones boy! No brains but you definitely got stones."

The teenage boy with the red hair and a scar down his left cheek didn't say or do anything in response to this comment. This irritated the lead vamp because if there was one thing he hated it was being ignored by anyone no matter if they were a vampire or a human.

"Well guess what I'm gonna crush 'em both then drink ya dry!" the lead vamp said with anger clearly being allowed to act at its own discretion, "So make your peace with whatever got you worship 'cause you're going to be seeing him real soon!"

With that the lead vamp charged his prey intent on breaking the punk's jaw with the first punch and then move on to snap some ribs one at a time. However that was when things took a turn for the weird because just when everyone in the gang expected to see the kid's head snap back with the force of the punch something entirely different happened. The kid dodged to the side with ease allowed the blow to fly right past his head missing the ear by an inch. A fluke most thought but then it happened again and again with no more difficulty for the boy than dodging the first one. This contradicted the one thing that every member of the vampire gang believed with all their dead hearts: humans were weak. That idea was shatter at the same moment their leader's jaw was when out of nowhere the kid with the red hair reached for something inside his dark blue duster jacket and slammed it hard into the vamp's jaw. To the shock of the other vampires the blow was strong enough to knock their leader clear off his feet and almost four feet into the air before coming back to the ground. Looking to see what enchanted weapon or talisman had enabled the weak human to pull off an almost Slayer level of strength they were shocked to see a simple ordinary look katana. There were no sparkly jewels embedded into it nor were their magic looking inscriptions engraved into the sheath or what they could see of the sword's handle. With this information the majority of them decided that it must have been a fluke of some kind and that there was no way that the kid could pull something like that again.

"Why you asshole! No one does that to our boss especially not some weak human!" cried one of the vampires, that had obviously been turned during the mid-eighties due to his clothes, before he charged the redheaded guy head on with the intent of taking the teenager apart.

However in the time it took the other vampires time to blink twice the red haired teen was suddenly behind Mr. 1980s and then one second later the vamp's head tumbled off his shoulders before turning to ashes along with the rest of the body. Now the rest of the vamps were officially either spooked or pissed since in less than five minutes not only had their leader been knocked on his ass but also one of their own had been slain. Fortunately things didn't remain divided for very long because with the first kill to whet the swordsman's appetite he became hungry for more and laid into the vampires with a vengeance. With speed thought to only be found in the Slayer or other demons the teen with the hair the color of blood began decapitating the nosfuratu around him with skilled precision usually only requiring one swing to end the demonic lives. Some of the vamps tried to put up a fight but sadly not one of them was over thirty years old (from the time they were turned) and while that might make them above newbie fledglings it mattered little here. One lucky vamp managed to actually dodge one slash but then the swordsman's katana became a blur of blue light as dozens of slashes were executed in a matter of seconds tearing the formerly lucky vampire apart. Eventually there were only two vampires left and both looked at one another with only one thought in mind and that was to get the hell away from this new enemy as fast as their feet could carry them.

Unfortunately their fate was decided the moment they had laid eyes on the killer of their fellow vamp gang members. In a blur of speed beyond what a top athlete is capable of the swordsman shot between and in a flash of steel his katana and recently drawn wakizashi severed both their heads from their bodies ending their undead lives. Skidding to a stop eight feet in front of where the two vamps had once been with a blade in either hand with his arms held out parallel to each other at his sides. For several moments he held this pose, not moving an inch anywhere on his body, but when the sound of vigorous clapping reached his ears he straightened up and smiled in the direction the clapping was coming from.

"So what'd you guys think?" Xander asked as he put his blades back in their individual sheathes which were located in specially shaped pockets in his jacket.

"I'd say that the vamps and the demons now have two things to be afraid of now." Replied Buffy as she and Willow stepped out from their hiding places where they'd seen the entire fight.

"Yep! Demons and baddies beware because Hitokiri Battousai is back and looking to kill every last one of them." Xander said with pride as he and his friends began to walk towards the exit of the cemetery.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sunnydale High School Student Lounge, Noon 

"'Are you a people person, or do you prefer keeping your own company?' Well, what if I'm a people person who keeps his own company by default?" Xander read as he looked over the newest question on his career aptitude test.

"So, mark 'none of the above'." Buffy said from her own seat near him.

They had gotten back home just a little before two in the morning and thanks to their respective skills he and Buffy had managed to sneak into the Summers home without waking Joyce up. True the elder Summers woman hadn't been aware that they'd been out in the first place but they both decided that it would be in their best interests to keep it that way. Neither of them wanted to have to explain to the parental figure why they were sneaking out of the house and not getting back until the early morning. After all it wasn't like Mrs. Summers would believe them if they explained they had been out patrolling the town for vamps. The manager of the local art studio was still in the dark about the more **unusual** parts of Sunnydale and neither of them wanted her to find out sooner than was absolutely necessary. He figured Buffy had a part of her mind like he had a part of his that was scolding him for not sitting Joyce down and explaining everything to her. Those parts believed that the elder Summers woman would be safer if she knew the truth about what went on at night on the Hellmouth. However those parts were overridden by those that want a slice of normalness to come home to after a night of slayage. They wanted to be able to come home and pretend, if only partly, that demons and vampires existed only in the movies or on TV. Their more practical side of course came up with the reason that if they told Joyce it would only worry the mother figure in their lives too much so it was better to keep her in the dark.

Hours later they had gotten up like normal and been off to school to endure another day of boring classes and Snyder treating every teenager like they were active agents of evil. Personally he thought that Snyder had missed his calling as a prison warden but considering how the former member of the Harris family thought school **was** like a prison maybe the troll was in the right place after all.

"Well, there are no boxes for 'none of the above'. That would introduce too many variables into their mushroom head, number-crunching little world." He said with no little bitterness as he glared at the test that supposedly was meant to tell him what job he'd do the best at after high school.

"I'm sensing bitterness." Willow said as she sat down next to them with a test of her own.

"No, it's just these people can't tell from one multiple-choice test what we're gonna be doing for the rest of our lives. It's ridiculous!" he said defensively as he moved onto the next question on his aptitude test.

In all honesty he didn't think these tests could prove anything since they were standardized and all the high school students that took them were unique individuals. Each person had their own special future and their own one-of-a-kind path to follow so there was no way it could be predicted or even really guessed at accurately. If he could figure this out logically then why didn't the grown-ups and other adults clue in and stop making their kids take the damn things.

_It's probably some form of payback for having to spend so much money raising us in the first place!_ He thought snarkily as he continued to go through the test.

"I'm kinda curious to find out what sort of career I could have." Willow said with a smile clearly enjoying the idea of writing a test and finding out where'd she'd be working in a few years.

"What, and suck all the spontaneity out of being young and stupid? I'd rather live in the dark." Xander said trying to turn his mood around by being his usual jester self.

"You're not gonna be young forever." Willow said in an effort to remind her childhood friend that high school was going to end sometime and he needed to start planning for the future.

"Actually if what I remember of the Battousai's life is accurate being a master of Hiten Mitsurugi will actually keep me young looking longer than everybody else." He said remembering the memories of Kenshin's training days with Master Hiko.

"Look young longer? Can you teach me this hitting misterhooey style?" Buffy asked excitedly as she was no doubt interested in learning a form of sword fighting that could help her during patrol **and** keep her looking young longer.

"Well… gee Buff'… you know I'd teach you in a heartbeat if I could but" Xander replied as he tried to think of a way to answer her without getting her angry, "the thing is I don't really remember Master Hiko's training methods all that well. Sorry."

Fortunately this response pretty much killed the anger even though there was still some lingering on her face but for the most part the Slayer was just disappointed. It was about that time that another person's voice reached his ears and instantly made him want to be somewhere else.

"'I aspire to help my fellow man.'" Said one Cordelia Chaise as she walked into the lounge with two of her groupies, "Check. As long as he's not smelly, dirty or something gross."

"Cordelia Chase, always ready to give a helping hand to the rich and the pretty." Xander said with mock admiration which had the desired effect of getting a reaction out of Queen C.

"Which means you come up half short of qualifying." Cordy said snottily as she resumed walking to unofficial table of Queen C and the Cordettes.

"Is murder always a crime?" he asked rhetorically as he perfectly understood why Himura took a certain satisfaction in assassinating the Shogun elite.

"Do I like shrubs?" Buffy asked in a way that could either be taken as a real question or one she didn't desire to have answered by someone else.

"That's between you and your god." Xander replied deciding to go with the funny since he couldn't decide if Buffy was being rhetorical or not.

"What'd you put?" Buffy asked Willow once she concluded she wasn't going to be getting any help from Xander.

"I came down on the side of shrubs." Willow replied briefly looking up from her own test to give her friend a reassuring nod.

"Go with shrubs! Okay!" Buffy said as she jotted down her answer but then a groan of frustration was released that hinted at a bothered Buffy, "Uhhh! I shouldn't even be bothering with this. It's all mootville for me. No matter what my aptitude test says, we already know my deal.

"Yup, high risk, sub-minimum wage..." Xander said knowing where his newly law appointed sister was going with the rant and very much wanting to head her off with a little humor.

"Pointy wooden things..." Buffy continued with a single-minded determination to sink into her funk of a short Slayer lifespan.

"Then why are you even taking the test?" Willow asked genuinely curious as to why her friend would take the test if she didn't think she needed to.

"It's Principal Snyder's hoop of the week. He's not happy unless I'm jumping. Believe me, I would not be here otherwise." Buffy replied not thrilled with Herr Snyder's latest abuse of his academic authority.

"You're not even a teensy weensy bit curious about what kinda career you could've had? I mean, if you weren't already the Slayer and all." Willow asked as she tried to get her friend to think past the doom of previous Slayers.

"Do the words 'sealed in fate' ring any bells for you, Will? Why go there?" Buffy asked trying to make her friend see just how dire her situation was.

"You know Buff' you should try to think more positively." He said as he decided to play his trump card, "After all according to that prophesy last spring you were destined to die at the hands of the Master but hey here you are anyways."

"I'm sorry, it's just... unless Hell freezes over and every vamp in Sunnydale puts in for early retirement, I'd say my future is pretty much a non-issue." Buffy said finally recognizing her friends' attempts to cheer her up.

"That or you could get a cool new partner in slayage that could take on half the workload and make it easier to live your own life." He said making it obvious that he was talking about himself, "Someone like… say… **me**."

This actually seemed to brighten the Slayer up a little bit as it was true that with the skills and abilities the Xan-man had picked up from Battousai and Halloween he could probably take out all but the high level demons in Sunnydale. He could take care of the small fry and the middle weights which meant that the only ones that Buffy would have to take care of would be the real serious threats that required a Slayer's touch to put down. All in all he had to say that aside from the nightmares he occasionally had and the new look the mess Ethan Rayne had made during Halloween was the best thing that could have happened to him.

Things were finally starting to look up.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_An Estate on the Outskirts of Sunnydale, That Night _**

"It would seem my lord that Alexander has taken to his new memories and past life quite well." Hiroshi said as his master switched off the TV screen that had been displaying Xander Harris-Summers' most recent patrol in the cemetery.

"Yes, indeed he has. Ever since Rupert Giles revealed to him that the memories he has were not magically induced he quickly came to accept them as his own." The Lord said in agreement of his aide's appraisal of the situation, "With this acceptance the skills of the Battousai come to him more easily and allow him to easily best as many as ten opponents at a time. A promising start."

"A start sir?" Hiroshi asked not quite sure what his lord meant.

"While the reincarnated Kenshin Himura has indeed progressed well it is obvious that there is little on the Hellmouth currently capable of challenging him." The Lord stated as got up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked over to his desk, "That could be a problem if it causes his skills to stagnate. After all the only way a warrior grows stronger is by fighting superior opponents. Regardless of the outcome of the battle the warrior will learn something from the experience and improve."

"Indeed sir. Shall I inform some of our upper echelon members to expect an assignment in the near future?" Hiroshi asked already compiling a list of candidates that were sufficiently above the Battousai's current skill level to present a serious challenge.

"No. Even at his current state of emergence there is still a chance he may be able to identify one of the reincarnate Juppongatana or others with similar traits which could reveal me to him prematurely." The Lord replied as he sat down in his plush leather high backed chair behind his desk, "I think we will need to hire out for this one Hiroshi. Bring me the files of the assassins belonging to the Order of Teraka that we have on retainer. One of them should meet my needs quite nicely."

"At once my Lord." Hiroshi declared as he turned to leave and do as he was commanded.

Two steps away from the door his Master knocked on the desk and so he turned to see what his Lord wished to add.

"Make sure the assassins are swordsmen of some kind. I don't particularly care what country they're from but they must be swordsmen." The Lord stated firmly making it clear what he wanted.

"Of course my Lord." Hiroshi said as he added that criteria to the things to look for in the files of the Terakan assassins.

With that he left the room and began to walk down the hallway towards his own office. As he walked though his mind drifted towards the question of why his Lord was so interested in making sure that the Battousai returned and did so in top form. It did not make sense considering how the former Hitokiri had ruined their plans over a century earlier. True that loss had been a bit more to do with his Master's own body betraying him than the Battousai's strength but still the threat was there. True his master's current body was more than up to the challenge now and was vastly superior to his human one so even if Himura did return to full strength he would be easy to squash. As an efficient planner and the one that ran the day-to-day operations of his Lord's vast empire he personally believed that they never should have looked for Kenshin Himura in the first place. Without their intervention it was entirely conceivable that the boy would have lived, grown old and died without ever catching an inkling of who he had once been. By bringing the Battousai back they were awakening a potential threat to their operations where one need never have existed in the first place. The young man's threat to the Master or even the higher level Juppongatana was slim at best but it was conceivable that he could take quite a bite out of their expendable and middle class forces. It would be better to eliminate him now that they knew who Kenshin Himura had been reincarnated as rather than purposefully try and bring him all the way back.

_Still I am sure my Lord has his reasons for bringing the Battousai back. Perhaps bringing him back is just the first stage of a much larger plan._ Hiroshi thought as he reached his office door and opened it, _Maybe he wishes to use the boy as a lure to find the other reincarnated members of Himura's group. They all did seem to gravitate towards him back then so it is feasible that the same thing could happen again._

In any case it was not his position to question or even impede his Lord's orders. All he was to do was do his duty to the best of his ability in order to help his Master fulfill his ambitions. Anything else was a distant second and only worth considering if it would not cause his Lord any problems. With that thought he went over to a large filing cabinet and began to look through the second drawer from the bottom for the appropriate files. His Lord would expect the files to be on his desk within two hours at the very most so he had no time to waste on idle thoughts.

His duty came first.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Next Day, Sunnydale High School, Student Lounge, Noon Hour**_

"Oh, here I am. 'Personal shopper or motivational speaker.' Neato!" Cordelia said as she found her name on the list of test results for the career aptitude tests.

"Motivational speaker? On what? Ten ways to a more annoying you?" he asked sarcastically as he figured she was more a de-motivational speaker than the other kind.

Cordy gave him a frosty look and looked back to the list no doubt in an effort to find his name in order to fire back a insult of her own on what career he had been selected for. Unfortunately it didn't take her long and when she did a smile spread across her face that he knew he didn't like and the giggling that came right after didn't improve matters at all. She looked for a moment like she'd gloat over what job he'd been assigned but instead decided to just walk away laughing and leave him completely dumbfounded. Growling a bit with frustration he walked over to the posted list and immediately began scanning down the list of names for his own. When he found the name he panned across to where the corresponding job would be to find one that was a mix between his old self and his current one. It still came as something of a shock though so he decided to go and find the gang to hear what they thought about his job assignment. It took a few minutes but eventually he found them walking across the quad and moved quickly to hook up with them. They noticed him almost immediately so he figured there wasn't much hope of him being able to eavesdrop on what they were saying so he decided to jump right into his question.

"Wouldn't you two say you know me about as well as anyone else? Maybe even better than I know myself?" he asked as he tried to think up the best way to tell them his potential job future.

"What's **this** about?" Willow asked a little puzzled about this odd and unexpected question from her friend.

"When you look at me, do you think 'special forces soldier'?" he asked tentatively looking back and forth between the two people whose opinions mattered the most to him.

Unfortunately they chose to do the one thing he had hoped they wouldn't and started giggling at him with great amusement. He knew what they were likely thinking, that a class clown like him and a punching bag of the jocks couldn't possibly be a soldier much less a special forces one, but it still bothered him that his recent change in circumstances hadn't changed their opinion of him.

"Maybe a private attached to the laundry division but 'special forces'? Not likely." Buffy said shaking her head at the very idea of Xander pulling off a Steven Segal or Jean Claude Van Damme in a black soldier outfit.

"They just put up the assignments for the career fair, and according to my test results I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the exciting field of Black Ops or counter terrorism." He said trying to sound both pleased by the job he'd been assigned and that it was actually well suited to him.

"Well, at least you'll learn something about stealth and agility." Buffy said with a giggle pointing out his inability to do anything sneaky until Halloween.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Laugh now, missy, they assigned you to the booth for law enforcement professionals." He said having it confirmed that despite his recent enhancements and improvements she still thought of him as the pre-Halloween Xander.

"As in police?" Buffy asked in complete stunned astonishment.

"As in polyester, doughnuts and brutality." Xander said as he pointed out several of the aspects of law enforcement she could look forward to, "Though you may want to take some anger management classes before applying to the academy. The last thing Sunnydale needs is for half the force to be put out of commission because they made a crack about your height."

"Hey!" Buffy exclaimed both surprised and angry about the comment her friend had just made.

"But, doughnuts!" Willow pointed out trying to keep her best girl type friend from getting violent with her best-guy-type-friend-since-pre-school.

"Well, I'll just jump off that bridge when I come to it." The Blonde Slayer said as she took the hint from Willow and reigned in her anger.

They walked for a bit before they all spotted Giles walking down the hall, with an armload of books of course, and almost immediately Buffy started getting ready to follow the elder Watcher.

"First though I have to deal with Giles. He's on this Tony Robbins hyper-efficiency kick. Expects me to check in every day after homeroom." She said before stalking off after her Watcher while muttering, "Police?"

For a moment Xander thought to maybe go after his own personal hero but Willow placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"You didn't check to see which seminar I was assigned to, did you?" she asked clearly interested in finding out what job she had landed as a result of the aptitude test.

"I did, and you weren't." he replied knowing that his friend wouldn't like the news given how excited she'd been the day before.

"I wasn't what?" she asked not quite understanding his answer.

"On the list." He replied not wanting to say anything more just in case he put his foot in his mouth.

"But I handed in my test! I used a number two pencil!" Willow said on the verge of slipping into serious anxiety.

"Then I guess you musta passed." He said not really sure what to do to calm his friend down.

"It's not the kinda test you pass or fail." Willow said making it clear that things were serious.

"Your name wasn't up there, Will." He said not knowing what else to say other than the truth.

This did not sit well with the young genius redhead and it certainly didn't take a genius to figure out that Willow was definitely going to do something about it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Summers Home, That Evening, Living Room 

"Not going out tonight Xander?" Joyce asked as she stopped in the doorframe leading to the living room.

"Naw, I think I'm just going to stay in tonight and watch some TV before heading to bed." He replied from his position on the couch.

The truth of the matter was that lately patrol had lost its appeal to him. In the beginning fighting vampires and helping Buffy was quite the adventure so it was exciting like few things were for him. Not that excitement had been the primary reason for him fighting the demons and keeping the town just a little bit safer but it did help him get through an otherwise boring patrol. After all contrary to what some might think they didn't always run into a vampire or a demon every time they went out to check out the cemeteries or warehouses. There were some nights when they could patrol for the entire night and come up with nothing but sore feet and a severe case of boredom. Lately though there just hadn't been any real challenge for him since he'd accepted the memories of his past life as well as the skills that went along with them. Thanks to the Halloween fiasco he now felt he was on par with Buffy physically and maybe better than her with a sword. That fact unfortunately made slaying the average vampire boring because they either were too slow, too weak or just plain too dumb to provide any challenge for him. Even taking on those seven vamps at once as the sort-of test that Willow and Buffy had made up for him hadn't really pushed him very hard. Sure he'd had to pay attention and keep tabs on where every vampire was from time to time but it wasn't really that hard.

_Looks like the only time I'll get any kind of workout fighting demons is if a new big bad comes to town like the Master or maybe Moloch._ He thought as he tried to figure out the plot twist on the show he was watching, _Ah the curse of being this good is that there's never a real opponent around when you need one._

"Maybe you need a hobby or something." Joyce said as she sat down on the sofa next to him, "I know you go to the Bronze with Buffy and Willow and that you guys spend a lot of time doing other things but maybe you should try to find something unique that you alone could work at."

_Where'd this come from_, he thought before asking, "Yeah but what is there really that I could do that I could fit in between my schoolwork and Bronzing?"

"Well you could maybe take a more serious interest in painting or art." Mrs. Summers suggested optimistically, "I know you take a few odd classes here and there but maybe you should really put an effort into it. Who knows maybe you're a Leonardo Da Vinci and don't know it? I know a few painters around town that I could convince to give you some lessons."

"I don't know." He said as he seriously considered the elder Summers woman's proposal given he was by law his mother now and that he definitely considered her more of a mother than Jessica Harris could ever hope to be.

It was true that he had done a little painting and drawing since Giles had come up with the whole 'pretend you're taking art lessons' cover to explain why he carried the cardboard tube around with him all the time but he'd never really put any serious thought into it. It was just a cover, a means by which he could carry his swords around without drawing too much attention to himself, so he hadn't really tried or paid more attention to it than absolutely necessary. Would he like it if he gave it some serious effort and tried to become better? It would set him apart from the others since neither Buffy or Willow were interested in that sort of thing and if he ever got good enough that he wanted to show off his work he could always ask Joyce if she'd be willing to have an amateur night at her gallery. Nah! He might be a good swordsman and he might be a pretty funny guy if he did say so himself but the only painting he'd ever be good at would be when he had a large brush and was standing in front of a fence.

"You know there are plenty of young girls who are really attracted to artists out there. I think just about every woman likes to talk about beauty especially if it's about their beauty." Joyce said looking a little bit sneaky before she leaned in and whispered, "Plus you know some of the art classes up at Sunnydale University do occasionally have nude female models in their classes."

"Oro?" Xander exclaimed completely on instinct and completely without his knowledge as he almost swallowed his tongue at the older Summers woman's last comment.

"Oro? What does that mean?" Joyce asked with some confusion as she couldn't place a meaning to the word.

Xander paused to think about the question and it was enough to distract him from the comment Joyce had made about the university. The truth of the matter though was that he knew it wasn't a Xander Harris word and when he looked through what memories he had of the Battousai he got a complete blank. From what he could recall during the Meiji Revolution Himura had pretty much been the strong silent type, the ideal professional assassin, and so he hadn't really talked all that much. In fact Kenshin and Oz probably would have gotten along great since they both managed to get the maximum amount of meaning out of the minimum amount of words. So there was only one real answer he could give Mrs. Summers.

"I don't know what it means. You just said… what you said… and that was the first thing that came out." Xander replied with his brain beginning to overheat along with his face as he was no longer distracted by Joyce's question and was reminded of her comment.

"Well you might want to think about rearranging your vocabulary if you want to take an art class at U.C Sunnydale." Joyce said as she got up from the sofa and headed towards the stairs, "Girls don't just want a man who is an artist with his hands. They appreciate someone who's an artist with his words as well. Goodnight Xander."

Naturally the Xan-man was completely tongue tied and couldn't even get a goodnight out of his mouth after his brain processed the Summers matron's bit of advice. Progressing swordsman. Yes. Smooth with the ladies and skilled with words. HELL NO! It was one of the reasons why he was a member of the freak group at school rather than with the V.P.P (Very Popular People). It wasn't that he was ugly per se, especially now with his Kenshin Himura makeover, but he skills with the ladies were right about where Willow's were with guys especially the handsome ones. He saw a pretty girl and he immediately turned into a complete klutz both in how he acted and what he said which usually resulted in being laughed at while trying to escape with some of his dignity. The fact that he had this on-again off-again relationship with Cordy was a pure fluke and more to do with her discovery of the truth about Sunnydale than any real effort on his part. Plus he could see out of the corner of his eyes various members of Queen C's group giving him dirty looks when he talked with Cordelia and giving Cordy disappointed looks at the same time. It was only a matter of time before they gave her the ultimatum of either ditching him or losing her elite status at Sunnydale High School. In short unless Cordelia turned out to have more integrity than he thought and actually cared about him in a more than just friends way then he'd soon be a bachelor again.

_Still at least I'll have the Praying Mantis ladies to keep me company._ He thought with mock optimism as he tried to submerge himself in the story of the show he was watching.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Next Day, Sunnydale High School, Student Lounge, Mid-Morning 

_Ah dear Willow._ He thought as he spied his best friend coming down the hall towards the student lounge where all the job representatives had set up shop, _I must be seriously losing my touch in teaching her the fine art of slacking off if she's passing up a chance to goof off._

Like a convict walking his last mile on death row he'd come to the student lounge to meet with the military representative to talk about his future there and eventual rise to the level of Special Forces. It was still a couple of minutes before he was due to sit down for the recruitment spiel so he had been looking around for Buffy hoping to have a little fun at her expense by watching her approach the Sunnydale P.D rep. After all given the amusing way she had reacted to being slated as a potential police officer he knew she'd be even funnier walking up to the booth to listen to the speech about the fun world of cops. He had **not** expected though to see Willow walking towards the booths because to his knowledge the scarlet haired genius still wasn't on the list of students with assigned jobs. He'd personally hoped she'd either sit down in the cafeteria and read the morning funnies or at least be in the library subbing for him in the sport called 'annoy the Brit'. A part of him knew that the former was far more likely than the latter but then another part of him knew neither possibility was likely given the smart girl's academic mind.

"Willow!" he yelled to get her attention before falling into step next to her, "What are you doing here? Fly! Be free, little bird, you defy category!"

"I'm looking for Buffy." Willow explained as the proceeded towards the student lounge.

"Oh, she went with Giles about an hour ago. Some kind of field trip deal." He said a bit concerned that the blonde Slayer wasn't back yet.

"If she doesn't get back soon, Snyder's really..." Willow said before something caused her eyes to get as big as dinner plates and change the path of her thoughts in mid-sentence, "...done a great job with the fair this year, hasn't he, Xander?"

"Principal Snyder! Great career fair, sir! Really! In fact, I'm so inspired by your leadership, I'm thinking principal school. I wanna walk in your shoes. Not your actual shoes, of course, because you're a tiny person. Not tiny in the small sense, of course. Okay, I'm done now." Xander babbled as he tried to distract the troll from the topic of Buffy.

"Where is she?" Snyder said implying great misery for the person he was looking for at the moment.

"Who?" Willow asked trying to play dumb which was kind of stupid of her considering her reputation around the school as a certified genius and all around nerd.

"You know who." Snyder growled making it clear he didn't buy Rosenburg's sudden drop in I.Q one bit.

"You mean Buffy?" Willow asked before making a somewhat obvious show of looking around the immediate area, "I just saw her..."

"And don't feed me that 'I just saw her a minute ago, she's around here somewhere' story." Snyder snapped as he began to lose some patience with the redhead.

"But I did... just see her a minute ago, and she is... **around** here somewhere!" Willow claimed as sincerely as she could without outright lying since she was a terrible liar and everything.

"For what it's worth..." Xander began saying in an attempt to divert the midget's attention to someone more capable in the art of bullshitting someone.

"It's worth nothing, Harris. Whatever comes out of your mouth is a meaningless waste of breath. An airborne toxic event." Snyder said interrupting the swordsman's attempt at a distraction.

"Well, I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to be so honest with me. And I can only hope that one day I'm in the position to be that honest with you." Xander said restraining the urge he had to deliver a Ryūtsuisen to the Nazi's cranium with the mop a nearby janitor was using to clean up a mess.

_Sure it'd make me the hero of the school and might erase my geek rep but Mr. Talbot strikes me as the serial killer type._ He thought sparing the janitor a glance, _Working in this place and having to answer Snyder would be enough to give just about anyone violent tendencies and anger management issues. _

"Fascinating." Snyder said with a tone denoting his interest as being around the level of watching dry paint before walking off to torment some other student.

Wondering if it would truly be considered a crime in this town to kill Snyder he looked at a nearby clock on the wall to find he was due for his meeting with the military rep in two minutes.

"Well, love to stay and chat, but I got an appointment with the Colonel on standard operating procedure for taking out a terrorist cell. Ciao." He said before beginning his laid back trot towards the student lounge.

_I wonder if I can get the guy to take out Snyder for me. _He thought as he pondered the various images of a team in black ambushing his 'favorite' principal.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sunnydale High School, Library, 4:30p.m 

"So Giles is sure that the vampire who stole his book is connected to the one you slayed last night? Or is it slew?" Willow asked with the entire gang sitting around the main library table.

"Both are correct, and, yes, I'm sure. Du Lac was both a, a... a theologian and a mathematician." Giles replied as he came down the steps from the stacks carrying a copy of National Geographic, "This article describes an invention of his, which he called 'The Du Lac Cross'."

"So, why go to all the trouble of inventing something, and then giving it a weak name like that? I mean, I'da gone with 'The Cross-o-matic', or, uh, 'The Amazing Mr. Cross'." Xander stated deciding to go with the joking since he wasn't entirely sure he understood what the Watcher was talking about.

Unfortunately this got him stared at by just about everyone in the room, not doubt wondering where he came up with those names as well as his statement, with Giles looking most unhappy at the unwanted levity.

"The cross was more than a mere symbol…" Giles said before handing the magazine to Willow for her to look at, "it was used to understand certain mystical texts, to, uh, decipher hidden meanings and so forth."

"So you're saying these vampires went to all this hassle for your basic decoder ring?" Buffy asked managing to break down Giles' explanation into the simplest terms possible.

"Uh, actually, yes, I, I suppose I am." Giles said a little surprised at his Slayer's rather accurate metaphor.

"According to this, Du Lac destroyed every cross except the one buried with him." Willow said still reading through the article Giles had mentioned.

"Why destroy your own work?" Buffy asked not understanding why someone would create something so valuable only to destroy it.

"Perhaps he feared what might happen if it fell into the wrong hands." Giles said as he began to pace about the library.

"Definitely something we should be go about fixing sooner rather than later." Xander said as a mix of Battousai and the Xan-man formed an opinion, "Vampires aren't exactly known for their patience and since Spike's gang is the biggest crew in town now, even after he's been dusted, they're our most likely suspects."

"But they could be anywhere right now." Willow said pointing out the biggest problem right away, "I mean Sunnydale isn't exactly lacking when it comes to places for vamps to set up shop."

"Uh, by learning what's in the book before they do. Which means we can expect to be here later tonight." Giles stated as he sat down at the table with the rest of them.

"Goody! Research party!" Willow exclaimed in the same way Buffy probably would if someone told her there was a shoe sale going on with everything seventy-five percent off.

"Will, you need a life in the worst way." He said in the gentlest but sincerest way he could.

"Speaking of, I really have to bail, but I promise I'll be back bright and early tomorrow and ready to slay." Buffy said as she got up from her chair and began to walk towards the door.

"This is a matter of some urgency, Buffy." Giles said seriously as he was likely wondering for the umpteenth time why his Slayer couldn't be more dedicated to her calling.

"I realize that. Well, you have to admit, I kinda lack in the book area. I mean, you guys are the brains, I'd only be here for moral support anyway." Buffy said explaining with impressive logic why it'd be a waste to have her spend time researching with them.

"That's untrue, Buffy, you totally contribute. You go for snacks!" he said knowing exactly why she was bailing on the research session and not liking it one bit.

Unfortunately one glance from the blonde Slayer is the only thing it takes to get the redheaded girl genius Willow to side with her best girl friend and come to her defense.

"She **should** go. Y-y'know, gather her strength." Willow said with a slight stutter that he would have thought Giles would have picked up on as being the first sign that the smart girl was hiding something.

"Perhaps you're right. There may be fierce battles ahead." Giles said being completely oblivious to the fact that the two girls were being less than honest with him.

Not needing any further permission the blonde Slayer known as Buffy Summers made tracks out the door as quickly as she could without arousing the suspicions of her Watcher. The Xan-man though just shakes his head wondering how a man so knowledgeable of demons, ghosts and other mystical stuff could be so stupid so as to miss what was glaringly obvious to someone a quarter of his age.

_I guess being older doesn't necessarily mean smarter._ He thought listening to Giles as he began outlining the texts and volumes they'd be looking in.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Walking Down the Street Towards the High School, 6:30p.m 

_Buffy'd better appreciate what I just went through! _He thought as he walked to the school to join in the research party.

He'd gone home soon after the G-Man finished outlining the schedule for tonights old book meeting and unfortunately had to endure a random Q&A session from Joyce about both school and what the plans were for tonight. Naturally he'd started out with some half-truths about doing research and finding out some info on the jobs the aptitude test had assigned him and Buffy. She'd kind of bought that but then had wanted details about what kind of research and where they all planned on going with the knowledge they gained. The answers to that had been a little harder to come by but he'd managed to say that he was researching the different areas of the military to pick the one he wanted and Buffy was trying to decide what area of law enforcement she wanted to go into. That was true insofar as he was wondering where in the armed forces he'd hang his hat if he went in that direction and he hoped that Buffy might be giving at least some thought to her career future.

_Then again she has been on a 'I am doomed to die young' kick recently so she probably hasn't thought much farther in advance than next month or maybe the end of the school year._ He thought as he turned to the right and headed down the last leg of his trip to the school, I wish it would just sink in with her that as long as me, _Willow and Giles are around Death might as well take a vacation where she's concerned._

He had hoped throughout the entire interrogation that Buffy would come waltzing in the door and divert Mrs. Summers' scrutiny from him but apparently whatever the blonde Slayer needed for her date with Deadboy could be found elsewhere. Fortunately though he was able to beg off any more answering by claiming that he had to meet with Willow to do some research for a school project. For a moment the eldest Summers woman gave him the 'I do not believe that excuse for a moment' look but then did an about face and wish him well with the boring book browsing. It was kind of weird though and for a moment he wondered if she somehow read his mind and found out that he was lying to her but immediately disregarded that idea. Joyce was the normal one, the den mother of them all, the idea that she was anything other than an average was about as realistic as expecting Larry to have an insightful thought. In any case he'd have to warn Buffy next time he saw her that their mom was going to be extra inquisitive for a couple of days.

He was about to take another step forward when the part of him that was Kenshin Himura screamed at him to retreat immediately. With a trust that had been steadily building since he had learned of his past life he leapt backwards and just narrowly managed to evade an attack by a guy dressed in brown leather that looked like a cross between a Spartan warrior and an extra from Xena. He wielded two short swords and while they didn't look like anything he'd seen in those old Roman gladiator movies he could tell they were made to do the same thing. Kill. Dropping his schoolbag but keeping the tube that held his weapons within arms reach he decided he'd try to talk his way out of his current situation first.

"Nice moves there Sparticus but you missed. Now howsabout you tell me why your so interested in making me half the man I am right now 'kay?" he asked while keeping an eye on the man's movements in case he went on the offensive, "I'm sure we can work something out that doesn't involve pain, blood or death right?"

"I'm afraid to say that pain and death are the only things in your future boy." The man replied in a deep and gravelly voice that sounded like it lived for the carnage of the battlefield, "How long the former lasts before the latter comes along depends entirely on you. Personally I hope that you put up a bit of a fight before I kill you otherwise this trip will have been a complete waste of my time and talents."

Xander could tell that this guy wasn't about to entertain any ideas of resolving the situation peacefully and in fact wanted to fight more than anything. The man's ki virtually screamed warrior and battle and that meant that there was only one way the reincarnation of Hitokiri Battousai was going to get out of his current situation alive. Popping the top on the tube at his side he pulled out his katana and wakizashi and slipped them in beneath his belt since he had left his customized duster jacket at home.

"Looks like there's nothing more to be said between us." He said as he unsheathed his katana and assumed a position centered on defense.

"Indeed." Was all the man said before he charged with his swords held in front of his torso to provide cover for the more crucial spots on himself.

Waiting until his attacker was just outside the range of his sword he slipped to the side intending to disarm his opponent, literally, in one slash. However his Spartan looking adversary was apparently no amateur as he quickly dove into a roll to evade the attack before getting back to his feet. Closing the gap quickly his leather clad sparring partner lashed out with the sword in his right hand before turning around and using the one in his left to impale the crimson haired Harris-Summers boy as he moved to evade the first attack. Fortunately the Hiten Mitsurugi master of Sunnydale High School was able to block the attack before using a quick slash of his own to clear the space around him. This had the desired effect of forcing the wielder of the twin blades in front of him to jump backwards but it only bought him a few moments of breathing space before short swords and katana began scraping against one another. What was even more surprising was that he was having to put quite a bit of effort into keeping his enemy's swords from getting any closer. Rather surprising considering that ever since the Halloween incident and his own recollection of the Hiten style of swordsmanship he was rarely pressured at all in the area of strength. Even during the brief sparring session with Buffy during the early days of exploring his new abilities in the library he never really had reason to be concerned. Oh sure he knew that his blonde 'sister' wasn't going all out on him and that there was no real way to find out who was stronger without things getting dangerous but he had felt he knew enough to know where he stood amongst the warriors of Sunnyhell.

_Which means either I need to seriously re-evaluate things or this guy isn't a local._ Xander thought as he managed to push the guy away from him so he could launch an attack of his own.

_Hiten Mitsurugi style: Ryūtsuisen! _He thought as he shot upwards into the air with a burst of speed before altering his trajectory mid-air and coming down on his enemy with a two handed vertical slash aimed at splitting the Spartan down the middle.

The ting of the swords colliding echoed through the air but rather than end the fight the only effect the Dragon Hammer Strike had on the leather clad warrior was force him halfway to his knees before he pushed the Xan-man away with a roar of defiance.

"Impressive boy. You've certainly managed to last longer than my previous prey and that last attack almost succeeded in breaking my defense." The Spartan said with genuine respect in his voice, "Perhaps it will be worth traveling to the Hellmouth to fulfill this contract after all."

"Contract?" Xander asked knowing all to well what the words warrior and contract tended to mean when put together, "What do you mean by contract?"

"Nothing that need concern a dead man!" the Spartan yelled as he rushed forward looking determined to finish the fight immediately with Xander's death.

Deciding to do the unexpected he charged forward as well and at the last second performed a Ryūkansen Kogarashi and as predicted the man blocked but this allowed for the second technique of the combo, Ryūkansen Arashi, to be employed and this did score a hit if only a glancing one. Vertical slash marks appeared on the back of the leather clad Spartan but he quickly moved away after the first cut making the second less severe than the first and making sure another wouldn't be made. Blood slid down his blade just as it dripped down the back of the Spartan who while still standing was definitely in some pain. A normal person would have been down on the ground after receiving such wounds to their back or at the very least down to one knee. This spoke volumes as to how good a warrior the guy was and hinted quite a bit about what it would take to put him down for the count.

"You continue to impress me boy. You're the first person to draw my blood in over a hundred years and considering I average about fifteen contracts a year that's saying something." Said the man wielding the two makhairas as he turned around, "It also makes it clear that I have to start taking you seriously or I'll wind up getting gutted like some pathetic newbie. So prepare yourself boy because the **real** fight starts **NOW!**"

In the blink of an eye the muscular Spartan-like warrior was on him and striking at him with blows twice as strong as before. After only three blocked attacks Xander knew that he had to follow the other man's lead and get serious or the man's swords would be cleaving him in two pretty soon. With that in mind he drew upon what he could remember of the Battousai's career during the Meiji Revolution, both his mindset and his focus, and tried to imprint those things into his own mind. With an almost audible snap he was once more as he had been during the final minutes of the battle with the ten thugs after the exchange student dance many weeks before. All emotion was gone from his face and his eyes were colder than the most ancient glacier looking at his enemy as nothing more than a target to be terminated. The one change he didn't know about though was that his eyes now shone with a golden light that would have looked more at him in a flashlight than a living being.

To those in the know this could mean only one thing.

The Hitokiri Battousai was back at the forefront of the young man's mind and this time he had been allowed dominance on purpose.

With nothing more to be said or done the hitokiri darted forward, his speed increasing rapidly as he went, but just as he reached his target he seemed to vanish only to reappear in a kneeling position at the leather clad warrior's feet. The older man sought to take advantage of this strategically unfavorable position but as he brought down his swords but this proved to be a mistake.

Less than a second after appearing solid and in a knelt position the hitokiri vanished again before reappearing behind the man and with a swift slash of his katana decapitated the assassin come to fill a contract on his life. For a moment the hitokiri waited, almost as if expecting his adversary to somehow recover from the fatal blow, but when nothing happened for several minutes he whipped the blood from his sword and used a portion of the dead man's own clothes to wipe the remainder off before sheathing it. It was then he spotted something on a finger of the assassin's right hand that caught his interest and without hesitation he slipped off the cooling body in order to examine it. It was a ring of serious quality and craftsmanship and he could somehow tell that it was made by hand rather than produced in a factory or by a machine. Embedded in a crimson background was a golden symbol of some kind but it was somewhat hard to describe since it didn't match anything he had seen before. However one thing he was sure of was that he had to show it to the G-man as soon as possible because if there was a contract out on him or the Scoobies they needed information and they needed it **now**.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


	9. A Shadow Appearin'

Sunnydale High School, Library, 7:00p.m 

"Giles, we have a problem," he said as he entered the school library and saw the rest of the Scooby gang plus Cordelia sitting around the main table.

"What sort of problem?" the Watcher asked as he watched the founding male member of the Scooby gang approached the table with an unfamiliar look in his young eyes.

Xander tossed an object onto the table that landed with the heavy sound of metal hitting wood. When the object came to a halt all could see that it was a ring, gold for the most part but with some sort of crimson inlay present around an unknown symbol, and he could tell that the Watcher recognized it.

"Where did you get this?" Giles asked his voice full of concern and worry while he carefully inspected the ring to make sure that his suspicions were correct.

"Off the body of some Spartan warrior that tried to kill me about half an hour ago. From the way he talked, he was a hired assassin and he mentioned that he was here to fulfill a contract of some kind." He replied sitting down in the only vacant chair, placing both his katana and his wakizashi close by, "I managed to beat him but just barely. He was good Giles, I almost couldn't beat him, and I have a feeling that he's not alone."

"You are quite right about that. This ring is worn only by members of the Order of Teraka. It's a society of deadly assassins dating back to King Solomon." Giles stated with dread as he placed the ring back on the table for all to see, "Their credo is to sow discord and kill the unwary."

"So they're after Buffy and Xander?" Willow asked with worry, not liking the description of the latest threat one bit, "But why? I mean sure Buffy's the scourge of the demon underworld but Xander's just Xander. Sure he's like wicked cool swordsman now but he's been patrolling for only a few weeks now like this."

"I haven't been that scourge-y lately." Buffy muttered just above the volume necessary for someone to hear her.

Looking at her, he could understand how she might want to look for some other reason why two deadly assassins were in down and attacking both her and a friend. He felt the same way after his parents had been wheeled into the emergency room barely clinging to life. It had been due to his interference in the mission of that group of mercs and their deaths that had caused that, he was sure of it. While he hadn't been all that sorry about the deaths of Tony and Jessica, he had been worried that one of his friends might be next on the hit list. He didn't know if he could live with himself if one of those close to him or one of the others was killed because of something he did or didn't do. They were his life, his world, the thing that kept him from allowing his soul to be pulled down into the dumps where a guy with his sort of past usually wound up sooner or later. He would do whatever it took to keep them safe, even if it meant sacrificing another life in order to save them. He would only do so as a last resort, but if it came down to that sort of choice, he knew which direction he would go in.

"I don't know, I don't know." Giles replied with an exhale of air that made it clear the Watcher was at a loss as to how to remedy the situation at the moment. "I think the best thing we can do is to find a secure location. Somewhere out of the way you two can go until we decide on the best course of action."

"Okay, now you and Angel have both said to head for the hills. Are you saying I can't handle this, that I'm not strong enough to fight these people?" Buffy asked with anger and a growing mass of fear, "I mean sure the guy I faced at the skating rink was good but he turned tail and ran in the end. I can take these guys!"

"You mean we can handle them, right Buffy?" he said not liking the fact that she seemed to be dismissing his newly obtained skills, "Between the blonde Slayer bombshell here and me the reborn Hitokiri Battousai we can take these guys without breaking a sweat!"

"They're a breed apart, Xander. U-unlike vampires, they have no earthly desires," Giles explained, trying to impress the gravity of the situation on his two warrior charges, "but to collect their bounty. They find a target, and, uh... they eliminate it. You can kill as many of them as you like, it won't make any difference. Where there's one, there will be another, and another. They won't stop coming until the job is done. Each one of them works alone in his own way. Some are human, some... a-are not. Y-you won't know who they are until they strike."

The Watcher stopped there, no doubt for dramatic effect, to give his words a chance to sink in before pressing on.

"I am not dismissing either of your abilities; I am merely saying that we need time to plan an effective strategy." Giles explained trying to dispel any notions that he didn't trust them, "We need to get a better idea of who we are up against and how best to go about defeating these assassins. We must try to determine who exactly it is that put the contract out on Buffy. If we can do that, we might be able to convince them to terminate it and put an end to this before it goes too far."

"Seeing as how these killing machines showed up just after those vamps stole the Do Lack cross thing I think it's a safe bet that they're the ones who put out the contract." Buffy pointed out not taking a whole lot of solace in Giles' attempt to reaffirm his confidence in her, "So let's start busting heads in the demon world until they spit out where Spike's crew is hiding. After all, it's not like there's any honor among monsters with them right?"

"P-perhaps after we've relocated to a more defensible location. Our primary goal at the moment should be in establishing a more secure base of operations from which to fight them." Giles stated not completely objecting to the idea, "We're too vulnerable at the moment to risk going off half cocked."

"And give them time to attack someone else? Not going to happen." Buffy said as she got out of her chair and went to the weapons locker, "The best defense is a good offense! Xander's already taken one down and I sent the other packing so the best thing to do is keep up the momentum. We attack every demon or vamp lair in the city until the vamps that stole the cross send their assassins for hire right at us and then we kill them. You with me, Xan?"

"'Course Buff'!" he said getting out of his chair and grabbing his swords, "We'll fight side by side and kick some assassin butt!"

"I understand how the two of you loath not acting on this threat immediately, but you don't seem to understand the situation." Giles said with some annoyance at his stubborn charges, "While it is true that your skills with a katana have improved much since Halloween, they still fall short of what the Battousai was reportedly capable of in the past. Besides, attacking all of the local demon haunts will only weaken you, leaving you vulnerable when the assassins arrive."

"Giles, I think you're overestimating how tough the demons in Sunnydale are just a **tiny** bit. None of them have been more than a light workout for me and I haven't been hurt bad enough for you to break out the First Aid kit in weeks." Xander said a little annoyed that the G-Man thought that way about his skill with a sword, "By the time the vamps are scared enough to tell their hired goons to stop beating around the bush, Buff' and I should be all nice and warmed up for the main event. Right, Buff'?"

"You got it Xand! Let's get going and start dealing out some fear inspiring pain into the little bads in this town." Buffy replied with a smile showing how much she appreciated his support, "Oh and let's spin by Angel's and see if he wants in on the fun."

_Just when I was starting to think this might be a nice Buffy-Xander outing!_ He thought to himself cringing internally at the idea of having to tolerate Lord Forehead.

The two of them walked out of the library to raise some hell (metaphorically speaking of course) in the demon community with the hope of drawing out the assassins on their terms. While no longer the heroic Slayer and Battousai pairing he'd wanted, it would still be a good chance to show the Summers girl what he could really do and if he was lucky he might get to show up Deadboy a few times.

_Keep those happy thoughts coming brain oh mine! _He thought as he kept far enough behind Buffy to enjoy the view and guard the rear (sort of literal and sort of metaphorical) on their way out of the school.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Estate on the Outskirts of Sunnydale, Ten Minutes Later 

"Sir we have just received a report from one of our surveillance teams outside of the high school. According to the hidden microphones and cameras in the library, both the Battousai and the Slayer have decided to try and lure the Terakan assassins out by putting pressure on the demon community." Hiroshi said as he reviewed the report in his hands, "Do you wish for me to inform the two remaining swordsmen to make contact with them immediately, or wait until the local underground is in enough of an uproar?"

"I think it would be best to let them get warmed up a little before letting the main event start. Tell our surveillance teams to keep an eye on them and keep me informed of their locations at all times." The Lord of the Estate replied while holding up his glass full of wine up in front of his face to look at, "Once I am satisfied that the Battousai is ready we'll send our two assassins to the location and sit back to watch the show. Until then , both of them are to remain where they are and prepare themselves accordingly."

"As you wish, sir. There has also been another… development… I think you should be made aware of. Mr. Udō has gone missing and none of our usual methods has been able to determine his location." Hiroshi said bracing himself for the likely angry outburst his Lord would likely let loose, "I have some of our forces looking for him in the surrounding area but I have kept them out of Sunnydale so as to make sure that none of them encounter Himura even by accident."

"Call them back, Hiroshi. Our dear Mr. Udo must be planning to confront the Battousai directly, in which case he is likely already in Sunnydale, sending men out to search outside of the town would be a waste." The Lord ordered with concealed anger in his voice, "It seems our insane swordsman couldn't wait for my plan to finally be realized and decided to act on his own. I think it is time I remind him who holds his leash!"

Walking over to a large tapestry hanging on the wall, it looked as though he was about to push it aside but instead he somehow reached into it as though it was a portal of some kind and withdrew a box the size of a bowling ball. All about the surface there were engravings, some letters from some unknown language while others were pictographs of some kind, and in the front was a solid looking lock that could probably take a stick of TNT and be barely dented. Placing one hand flat against the lock, a glow appeared briefly around that hand and with a –snik- the lock disengaged. Wasting no time for meaningless drama he opened the box, expecting to see the means he'd employed to keep the rogue hitokiri under control since the madman's rebirth. What he found however caused his anger to turn into barely controlled fury and his features begin to take on some decidedly fierce demonic traits. The method he had been using to control Udo had been the heart of the demonic body that his spirit had been placed in all those years ago. The organ had been placed in an apparatus that would allow him to inflict serious pain when discipline was required or burn the still pulsating sack to ashes should the man become more trouble than he was worth. However, inside of the box now a bloody and torn mess of heart tissue that looked like it had been stabbed repeatedly. Hiroshi was obviously shocked and clueless about what could have happened to the heart but the Lord knew exactly what had occurred.

Udo had somehow destroyed his own demonic heart.

It had been the only risk to using an apparatus such as this to control the man turned demon but it had been one he had been confident would never be an issue. Due to the type of demon body Udo's soul had been placed in, it was possible for the fool to lose the majority of his limbs and still live. However, if the heart were ever damaged or destroyed then the demon body's days would be numbered. While mentally disturbed he had never really thought of the rogue hitokiri as being suicidal despite how he had died after the duel with Himura years ago. It was never considered a possibility that Udo would sign his own death warrant, but now it had been because with the irreparable damage to the demonic heart the hitokiri would be dead in a matter of hours. With that bit of information, he knew what Jinei was up to and how the madman intended for things to come to an end. Udo intended to not only defeat Alexander but also escape punishment by dying before such retribution could be carried out.

"Well played, Jinei." The Lord commented after forcing his anger down thus allowing his features to return to their former human-like appearance.

"Sir? Do you wish me to perhaps dispatch a member of your elite to track down and eliminate Udo before he can meet with Himura?" Hiroshi asked uncertainly since he didn't know why the anger on his Master's face had vanished so quickly.

"No. The rogue hitokiri has played his hand masterfully and succeeded in getting his one most verdant wish granted. I'll let him fight the Battousai, but have one of our men positioned nearby with a sniper rifle loaded with our 'special' ammunition." The Lord replied as though the change in plans was of less importance than others might think, "While I do not mind if Udo fights Battousai, I do not want that fool spilling any secrets before he dies. I want the revelation that I'm back on Earth to be made at a time of my choosing and my choosing **alone.**"

"Certainly, sir. I know just the sniper for the job." Hiroshi said obediently as he closed the folder containing the surveillance report, "She is well trained and has helped us remove quite a few difficult annoyances in the past. Her unflinching loyalty to you and the odds of her failing to terminate Jinei at the right moment are virtually non- existent."

"Good." The Lord said putting the box back into its dimensional pocket, "It's a pity I won't be able to lure the Battousai into my ranks, but in a way, this is almost better. Like history repeating itself, there's a certain comfort in events replaying much as they did before. The only difference being that this time the final act will have quite a different ending than the last time."

"Indeed sir. It should be a sight to behold." Hiroshi commented with a smile of anticipation.

"That it shall, my old friend." The Lord said before placing one of his cigars to his lips, "It most certainly will be."

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Outside of Willy's Place, 8:30p.m 

"So do you think we've made enough demons shit themselves to get the vamps to send in the assassins or should we hit a few more places?" Xander asked as he finished cleaning his katana before sliding it back into its sheath.

"Maybe one more before we go choose where to ambush the assassins." Buffy replied as she casually strolled down the sidewalk to the next demon haunt that would soon become haunted once they were through with it.

"We should probably try Shark's place down by the docks." Angel suggested, taking up the rear with his broadsword resting on his shoulder, "He runs most of the organized demon activity in Sunnydale as well as a few criminal enterprises. We make him nervous and everyone under his command will get nervous as well."

"Good idea. Scare the big fish and make all the little fish scared too." Buffy said in agreement clearly liking the idea.

_Swell! Another **brilliant** idea from the walking corpse! _He thought to himself not liking the fact that he'd only managed to upstage Deadboy twice so far, _This is seriously not turning out the way I planned._

It had been pretty much a given once they'd hooked up with Angel that this was not going to be the shining team up of two warriors of the light that he'd wanted it to be. Still, he had been reassured that while Angel might be a decent fighter the skills of the Battousai would make him deadlier and give him a larger kill count that Sir Broods-a-lot. However Buffy seemed to be going more for the 'scare them until they break' method of intimidation rather than just the simple 'break them in half' M.O he'd been expecting. There hadn't been much call for killing of any kind except perhaps when one or three demons decided to make a name for themselves. That meant that Deadboy, who had a century more experience, had the edge and was able to terrorize the demons by reminding them of his darker days. Whereas he himself, a newcomer to the hellmouth good versus bad scene, often needed to go completely Battousai in how he acted to get a reaction out of them. Twice that had been enough to get a head honcho demon and a lieutenant of another group to cave and start rambling out every bit of useful information they could think of and then some. Otherwise, he had zero quality opportunities to impress the Buffster and show up Gel Boy. To say he was not in the best of moods would be something of an understatement.

Of course, he kept his feelings to himself and stayed in his usual 'antagonize-Deadboy-until-Buffy-gives-him-the-look' self while doing his best to support the blonde Slayer.

It was about when they were halfway to Shark's place that he felt something in the surrounding area was out of place. It was like a part of his brain was asking him to look at a specific spot and never stopped nagging him about it no matter how much he wanted to focus on something else. It wasn't until he actually tried to figure out what it was his grey matter was trying to tell him that it clicked for him and instantly he was on guard.

Someone was watching them.

He couldn't get an exact feel from the person but he knew where they were and didn't think they harbored any hostile intent just yet. It felt more like a wariness one would expect from someone conducting surveillance on a dangerous target with there always being an underlying worry that the person being watched might notice the watcher. Nevertheless it was unmistakably there and he had to decide how best to deal with it without making the situation worse in the process. Telling Buffy and Angel right away would only let the observer know that they had been spotted, causing them to either retreat or attack. Neither possibility was very good considering that if the one looking at him retreated, an opportunity to learn who they were would be lost. If the observer chose to attack that would also pose a problem since it would force a battle in which he knew too little about his enemy. Knowledge about one's opponent before a battle often proved to be the deciding factor since it made predicting the adversary's moves possible. In the end he decided to take a risky route and separate himself from Buffy and Angel, using some excuse like he was going to hit a lair in the industrial sector of Sunnydale.

He told them this and like he knew they would, they were not crazy about him going off by himself when there were two dangerous assassins lurking about. He just reminded them that Buffy was the primary target and that with his skills recalled from his life as Hitokiri Battousai he would be able to escape if a fight got a little too hairy. Their acceptance was reluctantly obtained and so he began to walk to the west down a separate street from the blonde Slayer and Deadboy. Doing his best to look casual and relaxed the truth of the matter was that all his senses were on high alert and every scrap of sensory input was being perceived and examined. After five minutes of this, he began to worry that the one that had been watching him, Buffy and Angel had decided to stick with the Slayer instead of follow him. When he had departed from the others he had been quite certain that the observer would choose to follow him since he was but one person thus the weakest link. Now to find that he had no one following him made him believe that the observer had chosen to go after Buffy and Lord Forehead which meant he had to beat feet back in their direction in order to sneak up on their unknown watcher.

He was about to turn around and do just that when the feeling of being seen with hidden eyes popped back up on his senses and he knew that the observer was now there. Had there been some sort of delay? Some reason why it had disappeared from his senses before reappearing? He didn't know but it was there now and he figured that now was the time to deal with the follower on his terms and chosen battlefield. Casting his eyes about for a moment he tried to spy a place that would be most beneficial for him in a fight with an unknown person. Fortunately it looked like fortune favored him this time because not too far away was Sunnydale Park and with all the vegetation there as well as shadows he could easily utilize some of his Hitokiri knowledge to get the drop on his pursuer. Picking up the pace just a little bit, hopefully not enough to tip off the following observer, he soon entered the park. Moving silently along the beaten paths he waited until he was certain that the follower was inside of the Park's perimeter and then with a burst of speed darted around a corner then leapt up into a nearby tree.

Being careful not to jostle the tree or cause any leaves to fall he climbed out of sight and then looked down to see if the observer that had been tailing him would pass by. A couple of seconds ticked by but then what he had hoped would happen occurred because before another second ticked by a form came into view and came to stop beneath him. He was surprised to see that his pursuer appeared to be a young woman, a teenager about his age more or less, Jamaican in appearance he thought and definitely beautiful from what he could see. It also looked like she was ready for a fight by the fists her hands were formed into and the way she was making sure to look everywhere for her prey.

_So what to do now that I know who was spying on me?_ He thought as he kept a close watch on the person below him, _She doesn't exactly look like a Terakan assassin but then I guess she wouldn't be a very good assassin if she looked the part._

In the end he, decided to become the follower rather than the followed in the hopes that by watching what this woman did he could determine what sort of person she was and whether or not she was a Terakan assassin. It took a few impatient moments, moments in which he was mentally snapping at the teenage girl to hurry up and move along, but eventually the mocha skinned girl moved on and after counting to sixty he dropped from his branch to the ground. Tracking her both by her footprints in the dirt of the path and using his ki sensing ability that he had gained from his awakened memories of the Battousai, he soon found her. Much to his surprise, he found her standing in a clearing and looking right at him as if she had been expecting him the entire time. This knocked him for a loop because he was certain that he had not made a sound nor given any physical signs that he had been in the tree above her before. So since he was certain he had given no normal sign that he had been watching her he could only assume that she possessed some sort of sixth sense similar to his own ki sense. If that was the case then she had likely known he was up in the tree watching her the entire time and had been waiting for him to make his move before deciding to relocate their meeting to this clearing. If that was the case then there was little point in hiding any longer so he stepped out into the moonlight but kept his hands away from his katana and wakizashi.

"So you been waiting long?" he asked trying to sound like the two of them had set up this meeting in advance rather than how it had really been.

"Onlee a few mo'ments." She replied with a thick accent that was definitely native to more southerly locale than California.

"Good because I was always taught that it's bad manners to keep a lady waiting." He said being completely honest with his statement since he remembered a few times when he had kept either Buffy or Willow waiting and how **THAT** had turned out, "So you want to tell me why you've been tailing me or what?"

"To kill you!" she replied and without another word charged him with a hatchet in hand and determination on her face.

_Well, I tried my best!_ He thought before he leapt back a good few feet before unsheathing his katana.

From a strategic standpoint, he knew he had the advantage of his weapon's long reach since a hatchet would be better suited for either getting in close to your target. Oh he knew she could throw it but he doubted that she'd disarm herself willingly given what kind of situation that would put her in when facing his katana. However he quickly found out that while his weapon did help him keep her at a distance it was much harder than he had anticipated. She possessed speed and agility easily on par with Buffy, perhaps even more than the blonde Slayer, and that allowed her to come dangerously close to getting inside his guard. Fortunately his ki sense and his skills in the Hiten Mitsurugi style kept him alive as it allowed him to predict her movements with a reasonable level of accuracy as well as block them.

Back and forth they went with one being on the attack for a time before the other did something to turn the tables on the other and going on the offensive. Throughout the fight though he could not escape the underlying emotions he occasionally sensed from her ki when he had a moment to spare. Given that he was fighting a Terakan assassin he had expected a mindset somewhat similar to the Spartan he had fought earlier or perhaps something like the assassins he knew of from the movies or TV. Instead the feelings he was detecting were more those born of a protector or an honorable warrior and that made him wonder if he might have been mistaken about his earlier assumption that she was a Terakan assassin. If that was true though then what was she? No normal human could move as swiftly as this teenage girl nor deliver blows with such power behind them. True, some disciplines of fighting, such as his own, could increase a person's strength to superhuman levels but often that was done more by the utilization of ki in the right manner. While she was definitely using some ki to improve her movements, it was sluggish and crude making him believe that she was using her life energy unconsciously. Over and over he reviewed what he knew of this girl while at the same time making sure not to let his thoughts get him killed by a potent blow by his adversary. In the end it was a graceful leap and an agile landing on the part of the Jamaican beauty that finally clued him in to what it was he was fighting. The shock of it almost caused him to drop his guard but a hastily blocked overhead chop with the hatchet quickly got him back I the game.

_I need to create some breathing space so I can put a stop to this! _He thought since he no longer wanted to kill the girl since it wouldn't do to kill someone who was on your side and just didn't know it yet.

Leaping back as far as he could he brought his sword up and said "Hiten Mitsurugi style: Doryūsen!"

With just enough force to make the girl retreat even further he decided that now was the time to try and make piece for one of them did something they'd regret.

"Hold it! I think there's been just a **teensy** misunderstanding here lady." He said using a commanding voice in the hopes that it would be enough to stop the girl from renewing the battle, "You're a Slayer, right?"

The word 'Slayer' alone was enough to shock the Jamaican beauty into immobility but it did no lessen her desire to fight him if what he was sensing was correct. Obviously he'd need to lay it all out for her in order to get her to see reason then they could go see Giles who could hopefully shed some light on how the Chosen One could become the Chosen Two.

"Look, I'm a local demon hunter and when you spotted me I was just working with some friends to put some pressure on the local demons." He explained hoping that she was really listening rather than just pretending to listen.

"You 're friends wit a vampire and you 're a demon 'unter?" she asked disbelief clearly in her voice and looking like she was going to start attacking again if he didn't come up with something quick.

"Okay more of a barely tolerated acquaintance than a friend in the vampire's case." He said not wanting it to ever be mentioned that he considered Deadboy a friend, "Buffy on the other hand is most definitely a friend and unless I'm totally wrong on this she's a Slayer just like you."

"Nonsense! Dere is but one, and I am she." The girl exclaimed in denial of what he had just said.

Considering how floored he'd been when the possibility had entered his mind he could understand a bit of what had to be going through her mind. However it didn't change the fact that he was certain that she was a Slayer just like Buffy but at least her denial and to a degree her admitting that she was a Slayer gave him something to work with.

"I know that **normally** there's only one usually but I'm telling you that Buffy Summers is a Slayer and after seeing you fight I know you are a Slayer too." He said hoping that by mentioning the blonde Slayer's name would make a crack in the Jamaican girl's denial, "Look, how about we head back to the school library. Rupert Giles is there and he should be able to clear this up pretty quick. He's Buffy's Watcher."

The mention of a Watcher definitely struck a cord with the Jamaican Slayer and it looked like she was giving his request some serious thought. That was a good thing and hopefully once G-Man was brought into the loop they'd become buddies, giving the Scoobies one more warrior to use against the Terakan assassins. After all if the guild of assassins was so important they'd definitely be top priority by any Slayer no matter where in the world they were from.

"Very well. Take me to dis Rupert Giles an' we shall see if your claims are de truth." She stated making it clear in the tone of her voice that she was still wary of him.

"Great! Follow me and we'll get this all cleared up in no time." He said before something occurred to him, "By the way what's your name?"

"Kendra." She replied with no intention of divulging anything else.

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	10. The Lightning Strikes

Sunnydale High School, Library, 9:20p.m

"And your Watcher is, i-is Sam Zabuto, you say?" Giles asked as he emerged from his office.

"Yes, sir." Kendra replied with the utmost respect and promptness.

"We've never met, but he, he's, he's very well-respected." Giles said and with that Kendra's claims of being the Slayer were pretty much confirmed.

Looking at her combat skills there was no real denying what she was. Well, unless you were Buffy, in which case that was more because of female territoriality and sheer stubbornness than any real objective reasons. In a way, it was a kind of contradiction as far as she was concerned because he knew that Buffy saw her calling as a burden and here was a perfect way of getting out of it. He didn't think it would take much to have the Council relocate Kendra to Sunnyhell. With her here, Buffy could live the life she always wanted. Yet, here is Buffy, throwing up a fuss because she was no longer unique and also had a rival for her position now. It didn't make any sense to him at all but he guessed he would just have to wait until the two of them came to some kind of understanding.

It was then that Willow walked into the library, most likely back from a bathroom break, and was almost immediately intercepted by Kendra.

"Identify yourself!" the Jamaican Slayer demanded.

"Back off, pink ranger! This is my friend." Buffy said quickly stopping her counterpart from doing anything to the shocked redhead.

"Friend?" Kendra asked as though the word was not in her vocabulary.

"Yeah. As in person you hang with? Amigo?" Buffy said explaining the concept as if the mocha girl was mentally challenged.

"I don't understand." Kendra stated, which only frustrated the blonde Slayer even more.

"You try. I'm tapped." She said to Giles before walking over to a vacant chair and sitting down.

"Uh-uh, Kendra, uh, there are a-a-a few people, uh, ci-civilians if you like, who, who know Buffy's identity. Willow is one of them, a-a-and they also, um, spend time together, uh, socially." Giles said obviously trying and stumbling to find the right way to answer the question.

"And you allow dis, sir?" Kendra asked with clear disapproval.

"Well, uh..." Giles began but was unable to come up with anything solid in rebuttal.

"But de Slayer must work in secret for security." Kendra stated in a way that made it sound more like she was repeating the words of another rather than coming up with them herself.

"Of course, uh, but, uh, with Buffy, however, it-it's, um, some flexibility is required." Giles stated trying to justify why he wasn't following what was apparently standard practice with the Watcher's Council.

"Why?" Kendra asked, not willing to let the matter end with that.

"Hi, guys. W-what's going on?" Willow asked clearly lost and looking for someone to fill in the blanks.

"Uh, it seems somehow that, uh, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale." Giles replied glad to have someone a little easier to handle to talk with.

"Is that even possible? I mean, two Slayers at the same time?" Willow asked actually sounding more confused than when she had come through the library doors.

"Not to my knowledge. Um, th-the new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died. Uh..." Giles replied before a proverbial light bulb winked on in his mind, "Oh, good Lord! You were dead, Buffy."

"I was only gone for a minute." Buffy stated in the same way a teenager would try and downplay coming in one hour past curfew.

"Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead! Thus causing the activation of the, the next Slayer." Giles stated voicing what his mind had come across as the solution to the whole two Chosen One's thing.

"She died?" Kendra asked with some puzzlement.

"Just a little." Buffy replied not elaborating further on a subject that was obviously touchy for her.

"She drowned, but she was revived." Giles said elaborating on what his charge would not.

"So now there really are two of them!" Willow said excitedly as though she was witnessing some historical event, which from a certain point of view she was.

"It would seem so. This is completely unprecedented! I'm quite flummoxed." Giles said finding a seat of his own to sit in while he polished his glasses as a coping method.

"What's the flum? It's a mistake, she isn't supposed to be here, she goes home!" Buffy said clearly believing that if she wanted her rival gone she'd have to do it herself, "Look, no offense, I really don't mean this personally, but I'm not dead, and frankly having you around creeps me out just a little bit."

"I cannot just leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all de signs indicate dat a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale." Kendra said refusing to bow to her predecessor's wishes.

"And what's your great plan for finding this dark power? You just gonna attack people randomly till you find a bad one?" Buffy asked getting up from her chair looking for any weak spot on her rival to attack and get her gone from Sunnydale.

"Of course not." Kendra replied with a little fire in her voice.

"Then why the hell did you attack Xander?" Buffy asked.

"I tought he was a vampire." Kendra replied with some embarrassment while glancing in his direction.

"Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie." Buffy crowed, making it clear that she liked finding a flaw in her successor.

"I had good reason to tink he was a vampire. Did I not see both of you working with a vampire?" Kendra asked putting forth her strongest piece of evidence.

"Buffy would never do that!" Willow exclaimed rising to her female friend's defense, "Oh… Except for that sometimes you do that… But only with Angel… Right?"

_Ya gotta love her when she gets a full head of steam only to fall into a pothole of confusion._ He thought with bemusement that he thankfully kept in his head and not on his lips.

"Yes! Right." Buffy replied not wanting her argument to lose any steam, "Look, you saw me and Xander with Angel, and he is a vampire, but he's good."

"Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read about him. He is a monster." Kendra stated still not satisfied with the explanation she was being given for why he and Buffy had been working with Angel.

"No, no, no, he's, he's good now." Giles said quickly in order to put a stop to a particularly tense situation.

"Really!" Willow stated to add her support to the idea.

_Yeah! Good at playing the mysterious stranger routine and seducing a girl that's practically a child compared to him. _He thought bitterly not liking the fact that the others were throwing their support behind Deadboy.

While he no longer really entertained any notions of him and Buffy getting together romantically, most of the time anyway, since they were family now, he still didn't like the fact that she was dating a vampire. Who cared if he had a soul? He was still an immortal bloodsucking vampire that would outlive her by decades, if not centuries, most of which would be spent in darkness. Why couldn't she see that a relationship with him would end only in pain and misery? The answer came to him almost immediately: young love is blind. When you're young, you often mistake lust for love or something else for love and don't realize your mistake until after all the yelling matches. He'd figured that out once he was old enough to try and figure out how Tony and Jessica had ever gotten married. It was the only thing that made sense: they fell in lust with one another, mistook it for love, married, had him, and then fell into the booze when the lust died. He just hoped that Buffy clued in before she fell into a similar trap with Deadboy, or else it would be too painful for words to watch.

"He has a gypsy curse." Buffy said as though that explained everything.

"He has a what?" Kendra asked clearly of the opinion that that didn't explain everything.

"Y'know what, just trust me on this one, okay? He's on the home team now." Buffy said, apparently unwilling to go any further with trying to convince her successor.

"Yes, and now that we have that established, can we return now to the problem that is the two remaining Terakan assassins looking to kill us all?" he asked casually as though asking what the weather was like out side.

"Y-yes, quite. So did you three have any luck in stirring up the demon community?" Giles asked looking for grateful for something a little less volatile to talk about.

"We hit all the usual places plus a few we never tried before like Shark's place down by the docks. None of them knew where Spike's former gang was even with the pressure we put on them." Xander replied since it looked like Buffy would take a little longer to calm down and report things rationally.

"Are you talkin' 'bout de assassins? I read of dem in de writings of Dramius." Kendra said apparently deciding to table the dispute over the title of Slayer for the time being.

"Oh, really? W-w-which volume?" Giles asked looking seriously surprised that there existed a Slayer who actually studied the same books as him.

Not surprising since to Buffy, books were the equivalent of liver and lima beans in the sense that they were good for you but were the bane of teenagers everywhere.

"I believe it was six, sir." Kendra replied seeming to chipper up at the new topic of discussion as well since it was probably preferable to dealing with a miffed blonde Slayer.

"Um, how do you know all this?" Buffy asked unable to understand how someone her age would be as book experienced as Giles.

"From me studies." Kendra replied in a matter of fact tone of voice.

"So, obviously you have a lot of free time." Buffy says now understanding why her successor was such a stick in the mud and ignorant about popular culture and teenage slang.

"I study because it is required." Kendra stated firmly, "The Slayer handbook insists on it."

"There's a Slayer handbook?" Willow asked with some interest since the possibility of a book specifically meant to instruct the Slayer was bound to be an interesting read.

"Wait. Handbook? What handbook? How come I don't have a handbook?" Buffy asked clearly not liking the idea of her successor having something over on her.

"Is there a T-shirt, too?" Willow asked before getting a look from the blonde Slayer, "Cause that would be cool... "

_Nice to know that Willow knows how to use the brakes on that babble engine of hers. _Xander thought since he figured that the redhead wasn't winning any points with her blonde haired friend with her current line of thought.

"After meeting you, Buffy, I realized that, uh, the handbook would be of no use in your case." Giles replied clearly knowing that his honest reply would **NOT** go over well with his charge.

"Well, what do you mean it would be of no use in my case? What's wrong with my case?" asked Buffy who was clearly offended at the idea that there was some quality about her that took her off the Watcher's Council book club list.

"Uh, Kendra, um, perhaps you'd like to show me the, the part in, uh, Dramius Six where, uh, uh, where it refers to the Order of Teraka. Really, I-I, I seem to have never been able to get through that book. It was a bit stodgy." Giles said ever eager to change the subject as he began walking towards the stacks where he kept the mentioned volumes.

"It was difficult. All dose footnotes." Kendra said with a smile as she followed him.

With that the two of them gave off a duet of laughter that had just about everyone else in the room looking at them like they were pod people.

"Hello, and welcome to planet pocket protector." Buffy said in disbelief at the increase of geekness in the library.

"They're not that bad Buffy. Besides depending on what job you get at tomorrows school job fair you might have to read just as many books as her to get it." Willow said trying to show her friend the other side of the proverbial coin.

"Buffy's a student here?" Kendra asked as she and Giles came back from the stacks with an armload each of books.

"Yes." Giles said probably thinking that the less he said the better.

"Riiight, of course. And I imagine she's a cheerleader as well." Kendra said with obvious disapproval that sounded oddly like Buffy when the Jamaican Slayer proved to be more knowledgeable than her.

"Oh, no, well, a-a-actually she had to give up her cheerleading." Giles stated looking like he thought a bit of humor might improve things, "Uh, it was quite an amusing story, actually."

Sadly a look from both Slayers pretty much stopped him from going any further than that and the Xan-man was most glad for that since it would likely have become unpleasant if the Watcher had continued.

"Well I can see things are going to be oh so cheerful here so I'll go get snacks and drinks so we can pull an all nighter on this." He said deciding he wanted to get out of the room before things got any worse, "Any requests?"

"Some M&Ms would be nice." Buffy replied momentarily distracted from her rivalry with Kendra to make her selection, "Bottle of Pepsi too."

"Dill pickle chips for me Xander." Willow said placing her order.

"Giles?" Xander asked after a few moments passed without a word from the Watcher.

"Huh? O-oh! Nothing for the moment Xander." Replied the G-Man glancing up from one of the books he'd brought down from the stacks, "Besides I have my own thermos of tea in my office."

"Kendra?" he asked since the Jamaican Slayer had also not placed an order after a few minutes.

"N-not'ing fer me. T'ank you." She said oddly unable to look him in the eye and looking oddly shy.

_But why would she be shy? She was perfectly normal when we met, aside from the whole trying to kill me part, and she was fine up until a minute ago. _He thought as he turned towards the library doors to get the snacks for tonight.

The only answer to that mystery he could come up with was the same that most guys had: Women are weird.

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The Next Day, Sunnydale High, Early Afternoon, Student Lounge

_What a weird time **that** was! _He thought to himself as he left the booth set up for the military, _Though I get the feeling that that guy didn't want to be there anymore than I did._

Then again, it looked like Colonel Ryback might actually have been feeling better by the end of the meeting with him. The Xan-man had tried to put in a few funnies during the explanation of the Special Forces area of the military and what it took to be in it. The guy had even snuck in a few trick questions, probably too see how smart the newest member of the Summers family was, but the majority of them were easy to answer if you took some time to think about them. This pleased the man and by the end of the talk, while still not happy about having to man the booth for the rest of the day, Ryback looked like he would at least have something positive to remember this day by.

With the little 'meet the job' thing over with he figured he'd head over to the library to see if anything new had been dug up on the Order of Teraka as well as who they might have sent to Sunnydale. That or walk in on the middle of a catfight between Buffy and Kendra. Both would be of the good in his opinion.

"Xander Summers, please report to the school gymnasium. Xander Summers, please report to the school gymnasium." Came the voice of Snyder's overworked and underpaid secretary.

_I wonder what they want me there for._ He thought before shrugging and heading towards the gym.

He figured that maybe it was some sort of surprise that Colonel Ryback had set up and was only planning on using if the newest member of the Summers family passed his trick question session. Maybe it was some kind of obstacle course or maybe just your standard gym exercises like climbing up the rope to the ceiling of the gym. Whichever it turned out to be he knew he'd be able to do it because between the exercise he'd gained helping Buffy and his knowledge of how to use ki to increase his physical abilities he'd be able to do both easily. In fact, aside from that fight with the Spartan earlier, it had been awhile since any opponent really pushed him to his limits as a swordsman. Kendra had been a good warm up but he knew that if he had gone all out on her it would have been over in moments with a single battou-jutsu or Ryūtsuisen. So if going one on one with a Slayer was barely enough to consider a warm up then he doubted that any simple gym exercises would be enough to make him sweat even a little.

Entering the gym he was a bit surprised to find it completely empty of anyone or anything. Students had been given the entire afternoon off to attend the job fair (much to Snyder's displeasure) but he had figured that some of the jocks from the basketball team might be playing a few games by themselves. It was this missing element that instantly put him on his guard because he knew that when things went against the established norm it usually meant that something Hellmouthy was abou to happen. He was not disappointed because all of a sudden all the lights in the gym went out and aside from the light shining in from the windows there was nothing but darkness. Deciding to be prepared just in case he slipped his backpack off of his shoulders and popped the top of the cardboard tube he kept his swords in. He did not remove them just in case he was just being paranoid but at least with the top off he might be able to draw his katana before the threat reached him.

Then like some kind of scene from a move a single light clicked on casting a spotlight of light down to the floor to illuminate a dark garbed man that was most likely responsible for the unusual summons and the sudden darkness. Dressed all in black from his shoes to his pants to his duster jacket he practically screamed bad guy or at least someone who shopped at the same place as Deadboy. Both possibilities being reason enough for him not to like the guy and be on his guard in case the stranger decided to cause trouble. What really put the final nail in the coffin as far as bad guy status went was the fact that his eyes were completely black pools of oil. There was not a speck of white between the eyelids and not a speck of light was reflected off the liquid surfaces making one think they were looking into two deep black pits instead of eyes. It made for a most intimidating effect even though the Xan-man had seen scarier since he started fighting the good fight with Buffy.

"So you are the one they are calling the second coming of Hitokiri Battousai?" the man asked with a sarcastic British accent, "I'm afraid I am somewhat disappointed. I thought you'd look a little more impressive."

"Yeah well you know what they say about appearances being deceiving." He said now understanding what Buffy must feel when vamps or allies comment on her height, "So I take it you're one of the Terakan assassins?"

"Indeed I am and I have decided I will deal with you first and then your little Slayer friend." The assassin replied in a bored tone of voice, "After all I'll need a good warm up before I move onto my primary target and I suppose the reincarnation of the Battousai will suffice."

"You'll never get past me." He stated firmly as he removed both his katana and his wakizashi from the cardboard tube, "Buffy might be pretty good with a sword but compared to me, she is a novice."

He spoke nothing but the truth in that statement. While the Slayer powers gave Buffy an instinctive knowledge about weapons, the blonde girl's conscious mind only knew what Giles had been able to teach her. Given that she only studied when she had to and only paid the bare minimum attention to Giles during their training sessions, he very much doubted she knew more than the basics of swordsmanship. In terms of repertoire and actual skill, he considered himself to be close to the level of a competent swordsman well on the way to becoming a master one day. He knew that there were some techniques he did not know, that some part of his past as Kenshin had not come back to him yet, but he knew it would only be a matter of time. What skills he had would be more than enough to finish off this guy so that they'd only have to worry about the final assassin before getting a break before the next three were sent.

_Assuming Spike's old crew can cough up the green to pay the Order to send more._ He thought as he slipped his swords beneath the belt around his waist.

"So do you want to start this little fight off or should I?" he asked as though he was impatient to get this over with.

"Since I am a guest in this forsaken town I believe it is my right to go first." The assassin replied somehow managing to pull a longsword out from beneath his duster even though when fully revealed it looked to be almost as tall as the man himself.

With those words, the man charged forward in a blur of movement that definitely made it clear he was not human at all. The killer was three quarters of the way to his target before Xander was able to unsheathe his katana and bring it up into a guard position. When the two blades clashed he was almost unable to keep his sword from being pushed all the way to his head. The strength this guy had was phenomenal and as he learned when the man brought his blade back for an instant before executing a thrust, the killer for hire had speed as well. Deciding to keep himself on the go he did his best to move with the side slashes and sidestep the overhead attacks as well as the thrusts. Trying to match the man strength for strength would not be a good idea both because he would tire quicker and he wasn't sure if his katana would be able to take the punishment. These swords were an unknown variable for him since he didn't know who had made them, what they were made of or how much punishment they could take before shattering.

_This is getting me nowhere fast! _He thought before he parried another slash by the assassin, _I need to go on the offensive and finish this guy before I slip up somehow._

"Hiten Mitsurugi style: Ryūsōsen!" he declared before delivering a series of lightning fast slashes to the assassin from every direction he could manage.

For a few seconds the assassin did try to block the attacks being sent his way but after a fifth cut appeared on his left shoulder drawing blood he backed off obviously to rethink his strategy. A good thing since it also allowed him to try and come up with one as well since he didn't have one and figured he'd need one if he was going to take this guy down. This was no newbie vamp or cocky demon he was facing but an actual bonafide swordsman- and a **good** one at that. Every attack he had made with his long sword had been precise and calculated with the intent to do serious damage. Only having an edge in the speed department had allowed him to block the slashes and thrusts in time. All in all it would come down to who was the more skillful swordsman and he had to think of something quick in order to make sure it was him rather than the assassin.

Deciding that it was time for him to be the aggressor this time he charged forward and when he was within range he executed the Ryūtsuishōsen technique. Up into the air he moved before bringing down a two handed slash then once on the ground pushing up and forward into a horizontal slash at the assassin's neck. While the killer did show signs of strain neither bow made contact with his body instead being blocked by his longsword with two loud clangs. The second part of the Ryūtsuishōsen successfully sent the hired goon up into the air and back a few feet thanks to the power behind the blow but the black eyed man managed to land on his feet with a bit of grace before standing up. There was a look on the monster's face that was devoid of the earlier mocking expression and instead displayed wariness as well as determination.

"It looks like you were right Battousai. Appearances can be deceiving." Said the assassin before a cruel smile appeared on his face, "I think now is the time to show you why the same can be said for me as well."

With a slash of the longsword, a tear opened in mid air and inside that tear was blackness distinctly similar to what existed in the killer's eyes. Before he could try and figure out what the significance of the tear was the assassin leapt into the tear before it sealed up as though it had never been there in the first place. That was all that he had time to think about though before a lancing pain shot through his upper back causing him to stumble forward in pain for a moment before he recovered and rolled forward to dodge any follow up attacks. Turning around he saw the assassin standing there with bloody longsword in hand and a smile on his face that all warriors have when they believe they have an invulnerable advantage.

"As you can see, manslayer, it is within my power to open little tears in space and time allowing me to disappear from one side of a room and reappear in another." The assassin explained as though he had all the time in the world, "All it takes us a single slash of my sword and I can appear anywhere on the battlefield I want. It is one of the reasons I am so successful an assassin for the Order. Shall we see if you are the one to defeat my power?"

With not another word spoken the killer for hire opened another tear and disappeared through it in the blink of an eye. Tensing and using every sense he had he tried to look for any sign of where the murderer would show up next so he could prepare an appropriate reception. Harder than ever before he sought to capture all his senses offer him and use that knowledge to ensure that there was nothing in the environment surrounding him that could be missed.

_There!_ He thought as he sensed a momentary shift in what he had labeled the 'normal feeling' of the gym.

Lashing out with his katana he hoped to be able to deliver a disabling blow on the assassin, perhaps one severe enough to put a stop to the tear jumping, but all he got for his efforts was a slash across his right arm. Laughter echoed throughout the gym and when he turned around he found that it was the assassin that was having a good chuckle at his expense.

"A good try Himura! You succeeded in perceiving the moment in which my 'exit tear' formed but lacked the speed necessary to catch me as I left it." The Killer complimented falsely as he watched the blood drip off of his longsword, "Do wish to try again?"

_Damn it!_ He thought as he watched the asshole open another tear and disappear into it, _How can I kill him if I can't catch him?_

The answer came to him in an instant once the scenario was all laid out for him in his mind. It was such a simple solution that he wondered why he had never conceived of it beforehand. Knowing he would not have much time before the assassin reappeared he shoved the why aside. He needed to get into position and fast! Sliding his katana back into its sheathe, he removed it from beneath his belt and settled down into the position needed to perform the technique that he hoped would bring an end to this fight. Once there, he closed his eyes and attained that sense of awareness that he had used to perceive the exit tear as he had before.

This time, he would not leap towards it but merely turn towards it. For a time it felt like minutes had passed but in fact only a second or two had gone by. Waiting for the same sensation that had tipped him off earlier, he kept his right hand near the hilt of his katana, with fingers just twitching to grab it. However, no matter what he kept the feelings and thoughts that would distract him from his enemy suppressed leaving only a cool calm focus in his mind.

Just a few seconds later, he felt the itch that had alerted him to the assassin's reappearance before coming from his right and immediately turned in that direction. This time he actually was able to see the longsword wielding murderer exit his tear whereas before he had appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately it was being able to see him that pretty much sealed the deal and with all the speed he could muster he launched the best battou-jutsu he could manage. Appearing to be nothing more than a flicker of light as the sunshine coming through the gym windows reflected off of it, he drew his blade directly from its sheathe and into a horizontal slash attack. It was then that the reason he chose this technique became apparent since the assassin's attack was so swift and because of his departure from his tear the murderer had no time to evade the attack or even bring his sword up to block it. So it was in between the ticks of a clock that the katana sliced through the torso of the assassin in a move so swift that it took a couple of steps on the part of the murderer before the blood began to pour out and the two halves fell apart. A look of unrestrained shock on the killer's face was a testament to the surprise he had felt just before dying.

_Is it over?_ He thought as he looked about the gymnasium for any other signs of trouble or attackers.

Looking about the room carefully he saw nothing out of the ordinary but knew better than to take anything he saw at face value. Several moments passed and when no further threat surfaced he flicked what blood he could off of his katana and then used a piece of the assassin's duster to wipe off the rest. Sliding the blade back into its sheath it was only then that full awareness, unfettered by the stresses of battle, returned to him and he realized the situation he was in at the moment. For one thing he was in a public school, with students in the building, standing next to someone who had been sliced in half holding a sword that fit the bill as a murder weapon. While he knew that Sunnydale blindness would take care of the dead body issue, if anyone saw him next to the body or even in the gym he'd be in trouble. In fact, he was puzzled why no one had come running once the clanging of swords started, knowing that someone would have heard him and the killer fighting.

_Whether anybody heard anything or not I need to get out of here before I get pegged as suspect numero uno in this guy's death. _He thought running over to his backpack and the cardboard tube that stood next to it.

Slipping both weapons back into the tube he put the lid back on but when he tried to lift it and his backpack, the wounds he'd received in the fight made themselves known. He cringed with pain as he forced himself to stand back up with backpack and tube in hand but did his best to block the sensation out. He had to get out of here and sneak into the library in order to have Giles tend to his wounds. While he had a feeling that they weren't serious enough to warrant a hospital visit, they would need to be cleaned and bandaged up as soon as possible.

Heading towards the side doors to the gym, he quietly slipped outside and once he was sure that no one was looking in his direction he began to skirt from shadow to shadow using his surroundings to conceal his movements as he headed to the library. All along the way his wounds protested the quick and jerking movements, anything that forced those areas of the body to move caused him to cringe, but eventually he managed to reach the back entrance to the library that Deadboy often used.

"Well gang, we can subtract one assassin from our list of problems as of now." He said trying to sound like all he had done was talk the guy into going home.

"Xander! What happened!?" Willow exclaimed obviously spotting the bleeding cut on his arm.

"Well, when I got called to the gym a little while ago, it turns out assassin number two was behind it. We 'talked' and I convinced him not to follow through on the contract." He replied purposefully avoiding telling his bestest bud the entire truth.

"H-how is that possible? Assassins belonging to the Order of Teraka are notorious for never failing to carry out a contract once it had been accepted. How did you persuade him to leave?" Giles asked without taking into account the metaphorical quotation marks he'd put around 'talked'.

"Let's just say I explained how wrong it was to kill people for money and by the time I was done he didn't have a leg to stand on from his side of the argument." He replied mixing a little bit of the truth with a little rewording.

"Xander? You didn't--?" Buffy began to ask before an ear splitting scream echoed through out the school.

"Guess they found the guy. Whoever found him must be tossing their cookies right about now." He said imagining how it probably looked to those now in the know about what went on in Sunnydale after dark.

"You mean… when you said he didn't have a leg to stand on you meant… good Lord!" Giles exclaimed as his mind finally connected the dots in order to come up with the truth of the situation.

"I didn't have much of a choice G-Man and don't worry- the guy was far from human." He said trying to defuse any fear his friends might be having that he had taken a human life, "The guy had darkness for eyes and was able to cut tears into the air so he could appear anywhere in the gym he wanted. Not exactly what you'd expect from a human being."

This seemed to calm the others and a nod from Kendra made it clear that she believed that he had done the right thing.

"Yes, well, with two of the three assassins defeated, the danger to us increases. It will force the remaining assassin to fight even harder in order to preserve the guild's reputation for always terminating their target." Giles said taking a moment to clean his glasses a bit, "Still, with only one threat to worry about and three able bodied warriors to confront him or her, it shouldn't be too difficult to defeat the assassin. Nevertheless, we should keep our guard up just in case as we do not know the abilities or the modes operandi of the last assassin."

"Gotcha Giles! Now do you think you can help patch me up before I wind up bleeding all over your library?" he asked looking down at the growing pool of blood at his feet.

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	11. The Rain Bleeds

Sunset, Sunnydale High School, Library 

"When is that jerk going to get here?!" Buffy asked in frustration as she peeked one more time out the library window.

"Well you know Buff' he's probably making sure that all his affairs are in order before coming to get us. You know, things like bequeathing his weapons, things that assassins do when they know they're gonna get their butts kicked." He said trying to dispel the blonde Slayer's growing impatience with humor, "I'm sure he'll be here just as soon as he decides whether he wants his body buried or cremated."

Everyone had a bit of a good chuckle at that including Giles, even though he tried his British best to hide it under a cough or something. The best part though was that it seemed to take some of the frustration out of Buffy's sails causing her to walk back to her seat and sit down to fume internally rather than externally. Not exactly the response he was hoping for but it would have to do. He had to admit that he was getting a little anxious where the final assassin of the set of three was concerned. It had been hours since he'd slayed the last one and now after just about everyone of them had gone home for the night there was no sign that the final assassin was about to make his move or was even in the area. Everyone knew that the guy would probably come at them immediately to salvage things but as the minutes ticked by there was a bit of doubt creeping into their minds. What if this last one was smarter than the others? What if he actually came up with a plan besides the whole 'locate target, kill target' approach that the others had used?

Not a good thing no matter how you looked at it.

From what Buffy had described from her encounter with the assassin at the skating rink, the guy had used a two sword approach with short swords. She had been able to dodge most of his attacks and even incorporated the blades on her skates into a few attacks that seemed to take the assassin by surprise. While she wasn't particularly forwarding with the details he got the idea that she thought the guy had been purposefully holding back. Not in the 'I am going to play with my prey' way but more like 'this is an act and I do not really intend to kill you' way which of course made the kind of sense that didn't. Why would three assassins come to town to kill the Slayer and then hold back during their battles with them? The two he'd faced definitely were going for the kill when they fought him and he had the wounds to prove it. He tried to figure out the last assassin's game and how the short sword wielding man would come at them but the only thing he managed to get was a headache.

Getting up from his chair, he decided to take a walk around the library to try and clear his head by getting the blood flowing. Round and round he went but on the third rotation a sudden sensation of being watched sprang into existence in his mind, causing him to stop in his tracks. Instantly on guard he looked about quickly but covertly trying to figure out what might be causing that feeling but no matter where he looked there was nothing suspicious. Yet despite the evidence to the contrary he could not shake the feeling that there was someone watching him and that person **did NOT** have benign feelings towards him. Searching for where the feeling was strongest he was drawn to the window that Buffy had been looking out of minutes before and when he peeked outside he saw the source of the malevolent watching feeling.

Standing beneath one of the trees in the courtyard, his form all but hidden by shadow, was a man wielding two shortswords. He was just standing there with arms to the side and weapons in hand as though he was delivering an open challenge to whoever had the courage to confront him.

"Well Buff' it looks like your waiting if over 'cause unless some other big bad has come to Sunnyhell with a thing for short swords our guy is waiting right outside." He said half turning towards the blonde Slayer.

"What!?" the blonde Slayer exclaimed as she leapt out of her chair and ran over to his side with the others not far behind.

"He ees issuin' a challenge." Kendra said professionally before heading for the weapon's cage to get something sharp and pointy.

"Then I say we accept the challenge." He stated as he went over to where his cardboard tube was and began pulling out his swords.

"What do you think you're doing Xander? You're still hurt from fighting the last assassin!" Willow exclaimed clearly not liking the idea of her friend going out to fight before his wounds have had a chance to heal.

"Don't worry Will' I'm just going out there as backup for Buffy and Kendra." He said trying to reassure his bestest bud, "I promise I won't dive into the fight unless I have to alright."

"Still Xander, I should think that Buffy and Kendra together will be able to handle one lone assassin by themselves." Giles said looking at him for only the briefest of moments before returning his gaze to the killer outside, "Perhaps it would be best if you stayed inside."

"No Giles, I'm not going to stay on the sidelines 'cause of a few scratches that've already stopped hurting." He stated firmly giving the others no room to form a counter argument, "Each assassin I've fought has been a step above the last one in terms of skill. Considering that the last one managed to give me these mementos before I finished him off, I think Buffy and Kendra are going to need support one way or the other even if they're Slayers."

No one had anything to say to that, so without waiting for anyone to take point on their little procession he walked up to and through the library doors to confront the final assassin of the set of three that had been sent to Sunnydale. It took him and the others, who had quickly caught up to him after his little statement, less than a minute to arrive in lush green area where the tree the assassin was standing in front of was located. However as the reincarnation of the Battousai got closer, he got the uncomfortable itch one feels when something is not quite right. The killer for hire was standing unusually still and had not moved an inch since the Scoobies began their approach. No movement in the hands to show a readying for battle or any movement from the head to show that he had turned to look at them.

_It's almost like…_ he thought before the truth clicked into place for him.

"Everyone stop right where you are!!" he commanded adding a glare in their direction to make sure they actually obeyed him, "Don't take another step!"

"Xander! What's wrong?" Willow asked with a start at the sudden change in her best friend's demeanor.

"I think this guy's dead. You stay there while I check it out." He said in a more objective tone of voice.

Not waiting for a response he began to carefully approach the form next to the tree while keeping both hands near his katana in case he had to draw it in a hurry. However as he got closer to the form he became more and more sure that he had nothing to fear from this person and he was proven right when his proximity to the body confirmed what he had suspected just moments ago.

This guy was dead.

Whether or not this was the assassin or not didn't really matter because the fact that someone went to the trouble of standing the corpse up like this to make it look like the person was alive made the motive only one of two things. Either this guy was meant as a warning of some kind or he was bait and that meant the one who had killed the guy was still nearby somewhere.

_Well seeing as how the Scooby gang's luck always seems to suck I think I'll bet on the latter rather than the former!_ He thought before turning around to face said gang.

"Guys, we gotta get out of here! This guy's just the bait! We gotta get out of here before whatever sicko put him up there springs the trap!" he said urgently to his friends knowing that they likely had only seconds before it'd be too late to make a break for it.

However, he immediately knew something was wrong when no one, from Willow to Kendra to Giles, moved so much as an inch at all. They were like statues and the only sign he could see that they were still alive was the occasional eyeblink along with some minimal eye movement. Starting towards them, he thought that maybe it was just the shock of seeing someone set up like a scarecrow that had them immobile or maybe the idea that they'd walked into a trap but as he got closer he knew that was not the case. He could tell from the movements their eyes made that they were straining to move but that for some reason their bodies were not responding to their commands. A feeling of dread began to chill inside of his chest as a sensation of approaching evil began to grow in his mind. For reasons that escaped him he felt as though he **knew** who was behind this but every time he tried to put a name or face to the perpetrator all he got was a blank.

"You needn't worry about your friends **Battousai**! They are merely under a weaker form of my Shin no Ippō technique which prevents them from moving." Came a familiar voice from behind him, "I just wanted to get you out here and keep them from interfering in our little rematch."

Rotating around towards the source of the voice he was surprised to see Mr. Udo from the Meiji Revolution exhibit at the museum from weeks ago. He had never really thought much about that day aside from the moments of weirdness associated with it and certainly hadn't given the swordsman any serious thought. Now to find out that he was not only crazier than he'd seemed back at the museum but also apparently a killer, left the Xan-man feeling distinctly uneasy. The guy was dressed much as he had been during that encounter at the Meiji exhibit with a well tailored suit and duster jacket which no doubt contained his katana. When the reincarnation of Hitokiri Battousai finally took in the man's face he started at the bloodlust he saw within the man's eyes. This man, this **monster**, lived for the kill! He reveled in the bloodshed and the deaths of his victims! It was his reason for being and his presence here made his intentions clear.

"Who are you? Name yourself and explain what you want here." He said while using his left hand to loosen his katana from its sheathe.

"You mean to say that even after weeks of having memories from your past life float to the surface and had some shoved into place by Rayne's spell you don't remember me?" the man asked doing a poor imitation of the wounded friend, "That hurts Battousai! After all, we had such fun together back during the early days of the Meiji era I'd hoped that I'd left more of an impression on you."

He said nothing in the hopes that the man would volunteer the information he sought as well as perhaps a little something extra.

"Perhaps this will jog your memory then." Mr. Udo said before his eyes turned pitch black with only a pinprick of green to show where the pupil was positioned.

Without warning a powerful wind blew through the area and seemed to converge on the man from the Meiji exhibit. With a funnel of air circling the insane man an ink black cloud of smoke rose from the ground enshrouding the mystery man until he was almost completely obscured. For a moment he thought that the guy might be attempting to flee, but with an audible implosion of air the smoke dispersed and standing in his place was the same man but he was wearing different clothes. On his head he wore what looked like a Japanese straw hat but it was made of something considerably darker and shiny than that. Next came some sort of black bodysuit that frame his face like the kind worn by the comic book character Gambit. Most of the body suit was covered by what looked like a green yukata and he had a black scarf wrapped around his neck. Topping it all were a pair of black boots that fit seamlessly with the bodysuit, making it extremely difficult to see where they ended and the bodysuit began. Put it all together and like a lightning bolt hitting him from above memories were jolted into existence within his mind. Memories of another time and place where a situation much like this one right now were played out under the light of a full moon.

Memories of assassinations being carried out on important political figures with the perpetrator announcing who his next target would be days before in the local newspaper.

Memories of facing that assassin and finding out that he was a manslayer as well left over from the Meiji Revolution and unable apparently to put down his sword or suppress his bloodlust.

Memories of a woman whose face he couldn't quite remember being abducted by the assassin to be used as bait to ensure one final confrontation.

Then in a blink it was all over and he knew who stood across from him and just what this killing machine was capable of when he became 'interested' in someone.

"So someone decided to bring you back from the dead, Udō Jin-e?" he asked finally drawing his katana from its sheathe.

"What makes you think I didn't escape hell on my own?" Udo asked conversationally as he drew his own katana.

"Well, I somehow doubt you'd leave all the comforts of hell, what with all the people you could fight and kill to your heart's content, to come back to the boring old land of the living." He replied just as conversationally as he tried to position himself in the most advantageous spot strategically speaking, "Besides someone's obviously been holding your leash, otherwise news of your 'entertainment' would have made it into the news sooner or later."

"Well I can't argue with that. Fortunately for me, I recently handed in my resignation from my **former** employer so I could focus all my attention on our little rematch." Jin-e stated moving along with the Xan-man, thus preventing the reincarnated Battousai from gaining superior positioning, "So what do you say we get started? After all, this little reunion has been over a century in the making."

"Fine by me. Let's go!" he said with determination before going on the offensive.

In less than a second the air became filled with the sounds of blade hitting blade along with the noise of feet moving briskly through carefully maintained grass. In the first ten seconds alone he knew that this fight would be unlike anything he'd been involved in previously and that included the intense fight he'd had with the assassin in the gym. Each block became decisively harder to make in time and so he pushed his body to move faster and make each attack he executed stronger in the hopes of overpowering his enemy. However, this proved to be a mistake when he put a little too much force into a blow which Jin-e used to his advantage by letting the katana slide off his thust, providing the man with a vulnerable spot to attack. A streak of hot pain was drawn across his side, forcing him to leap a short distance away before stopping to judge the severity of the wound. From what he could tell both from the sensations in the skin around the wound and from his own light touches with his fingers, it wasn't too deep but continuing the fight would only cause the blood to flow faster from the wound. He knew he could probably last until the end of the fight but then it'd be all up to Buffy and the others to get him to a hospital before it was too late.

_Can't let myself get caught napping like that again! _He thought as he returned the hand he'd been using to probe the wound to the hilt of his katana, _I have to remember that Hiten Mitsurugi's main advantage is superior speed with strength being added only as a secondary benefit. If I want to beat Udo I must move __**faster!**_

With that in mind, he charged once more but this time instead of trying to rely on the slashes and other attacks common to just about every style employing a katana, he performed a Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūkansen hoping to capitalize on its feint and strike movements to bypass the man's defenses. This was met with noticeably more success, even though Jin-e still managed to block it, the movement of the killer's arm was more deliberate and serious rather than the lazy blocks of before. Still, he could feel in the man's ki that he still wasn't even close to going all out. That worried him because he knew that this rogue hitokiri lived for life and death struggles where he was pushed to his limits. If the battle went on much longer without any sort of pressure being applied to the bodysuit wearing fiend, Udo might get annoyed enough to do something to one of the Scoobies to 'motivate' him. To apply that pressure, he chose the Ryūsōsen Garami technique in the hopes that by performing so many lightning fast slashes to the man's head it would provide enough 'amusement' to keep the monster from creating his own brand of stress to the fight. This seemed to work for a while, since it actually forced Jin-e to back away from his attacks rather than just stand there and block them. Keeping up that technique for a time he tried to lull the man into thinking that that was all there was going to be for a while before pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

"Hiten Mitsurugi style: **Ryūshōsen!**" he yelled before jumping forward to deliver a horizontal slash aimed at the rogue hitokiri's neck.

"Not quite fast enough, **Battousai!**" Jin-e said blocking the slash and diverting the bulk of the technique off to the left.

Landing on the ground, he allowed himself to slide along the grass to let his momentum play itself out, as well as give himself some breathing room. Cursing himself, he began to wonder if he could really win this battle or if he was just condemning himself to a slow and painful defeat. Unlike Jin-e, he had been going all out since he first got a taste of the man's skill and strength but it was already ten minutes later with him having little to show for it. Looking down at the black blood that was dripping down his sword however was something he did take some satisfaction in, since as far as he was concerned 'if it can bleed, it can die'.

"Fast enough to draw your demon blood Jin-e!" he said raising his katana to show the merciless killer the results of that Ryushosen.

With a bit of surprise, the man reached up with one hand to feel his throat and once he pulled it away he did indeed find blood on his hand. While the technique hadn't been enough to sever the man's head or even cut very deeply it had been enough to draw blood and that was **something** of an improvement. However, seeing the maniacal smile on Udo's face the reincarnation of Battousai the Manslayer knew that he had only fueled Jin-e's lust for battle.

"So it was **Battousai**!" Udo exclaimed joyously before licking his own blood off his hand, "However you're still slower than I'd hoped for, even if I take into account my demonic host body's superhuman capabilities. After all, thanks to that fool Rayne's meddling, you have the blood of a ryu-youkai flowing through your veins making you much stronger than before."

"Ryu-youkai blood?" he asked in shock as this was the first he'd heard of this since the Halloween spell was broken.

"Hahahahaha! You mean **you** didn't **know?!**" Udo asked incredulously as he laughed, "How do you think you've been able to keep up with me until now? While you may have reclaimed some of your memories from your time as Kenshin Himura, memories alone are not enough to make you into the manslayer you once were! Surely you must recall that it took you years to achieve the god-like speed at which Hiten Mitsurugi is performed! No matter what training you might have undertaken since Halloween, there is no way you could have achieved the same results in so short a period of time."

That logic hit him like a ton of bricks and for the first time. He felt a genuine drop in confidence as memories of his training with Seijūrō Hiko flittered into his mind. The months that gradually turned into years, training at the foot of the waterfall near the shack along with the hours of swinging a branch the length of a sword against a knarred tree entered his mind. In that moment, he realized that Udo was right and that he had been a fool to become so confident in his skills just because he could slice vamps into ribbons with ease. Even his victories against the two members of the Order of Teraka meant little, since those two had been cocky from the beginning and never once took him seriously. This was the first time he was facing someone who seemed to be taking the fight like a true professional, rather than someone playing with an amateur. Seeing as how he wasn't doing so good and his adversary wasn't even going all out that didn't speak well for his chances at all. Could he even hope to be able to beat this guy?

"Oh don't get discouraged Battousai! While I'll admit that you're not quite as good as you were the last time we fought the fact that you've managed to cut me means you do have the potential." Udo said with false encouragement, "Perhaps all you need is a little more encouragement to meet your maximum potential."

In the blink of an eye, the rogue hitokiri vanished from where he had been only to reappear in front of the gang with his katana held in such a way that practically screamed that something was going to be done with it. Xander charged forward, determined to drive the man away from his friends and comrades, to keep them safe no matter the cost to himself. However, in the end he just wasn't quick enough and with a single thrust Jin-e's sword cut into the flesh of Kendra the Jamaican Slayer. What surprised him into coming to a halt though was that the blade had barely gone a millimeter or two deep, barely enough to draw blood actually, and he could see no sign that Udo was going to plunge it deeper. However when the madman withdrew his sword and the blood began to pour down the Slayer's still paralyzed body, his mind caught a glimmer of what the murderer intended.

"Well that should do nicely. The cut itself isn't very deep, but it's close enough to a major artery that her own heart will bleed her dry in a short while." Jin-e said with satisfaction watching the blood flow down the teenage girl's neck, "I give her three minutes, maybe four if she somehow manages to slow her heart rate down a bit, but after that, she'll be little more than a paralyzed sack of flesh. Much more inventive than what I did to your woman the last time we fought, right Battousai?"

"Jin-e!" he growled knowing that if the sadistic madman didn't get what he wanted in the next exchange he would do the same to Buffy and the others.

He'd even do it to **Willow!**

_That __**is NOT**__ going to __**HAPPEN!**_He thought to himself as a fiery rage began to build within him.

"Good! GOOD! I can feel the anger building within you. Use it! Let it flow through you! Use it to bring out your long buries instincts as a Manslayer and fight me!" Udo said as though he saw something that pleased him greatly, "Let your desire to kill me consume your very being because you know that the only way you're going to be able to get the girl to the hospital in time is to free your friends from the Shin no Ippō. So come, **Himura the Battousai**, and let me relive the days of the Revolution once more!"

The fury building within the newest member of the Summers family needed no further prodding and with a burst of speed that was dramatically higher than anything he had used beforehand, he crossed the distance between himself and his target. Like a wraith, he moved about his prey, striking at each and every weak spot his eyes could perceive, seeking the man's death. Gone were any restraints of morality and honor, a mere whisper the only thing left to hear of his conscience, leaving only a cold and frozen heart as well as a soul of death visible through his eyes. With every exchange he ignored the cuts he received on his own body, especially if a favorable target showed, and placing his entire focus on his objective. The **DEATH** of **Jin-E Udo!**

In the back of his mind a part of him could see that the rogue manslayer was pleased with this change in attitude, a maniacal smile plastered across his face, and every exchange of blows that followed only increased his pleasure. It didn't matter to this monster that cuts were beginning to blossom on his body with greater and greater regularity. It was clear that all that mattered to this murderer was the battle itself and all else could go to hell as far as he was concerned. Like angels of death, the two of them battled, appearing and disappearing in blurs of speed, but never once did they stray far from where the Scooby gang stood frozen. Whether it was mere chance or something done by the design of one of the combatants or not, one thing for certain was that all those present would bear witness to this clash of swordsmen.

On and on they went, blade against blade, with cuts appearing on their bodies as though by magic since the weapons used to make them were moving too fast to be seen by normal human eyes. However, as it tends to be, fighting at such a high level where a person's body is pushed to its limits and beyond inevitably takes its toll on that person. In the case of Xander Summers, a.k.a the reincarnated Hitokiri Battousai, the signs of this cost of high-speed combat began to rear its ugly head as he was forced to stop for a moment to catch his breath. Deep breaths of air were taken into his lungs but never once did his eyes stray from his enemy, nor for a moment did his desire to kill that man waver. Sadly, his body was another story. Without the sheer concentration of fighting Jin-e to distract it, the wounds that covered his form did their best to become known. Some cuts were small and no worse than something you would need a light bandage for, while others were definitely going to require some stitches before it was all said and done. His clothes were in tatters with one sleeve almost completely torn off while the rest most people would write off as being beyond repair. Blood stains were apparent with the dark blotches on his clothes only growing with every moment that passed. Most telling of was the slight tremor in the hand that wielded the katana. For while it was barely perceivable it was indeed there for those who knew to look for it. Whether it was simple fatigue or the result of losing ever increasing amounts of blood, he didn't know but one thing that was clear was that he was slowly losing the battle.

_While I believe I have come closer to his level of speed and strength the difference in battle damage between the too of us is clear._ He thought with a cool and analytical eye, _If this battle continues as it has I will lose. I must end this now before I am too weak to do so._

To that end he decided to take a chance and enact a plan that stood the best chance of ending the fight sooner rather than later, possibly in his favor. Taking a single step forward he pretended to stumble a bit and fell to one knee with his sheathe becoming obstructed from view. With jerking motions he sheathed his katana and pretended to have the mother of all coughing fits while clutching his chest in pain. While the pain he was emulating wasn't too far from the truth, he had to make it look as though he was on his last legs in order to look like inviting prey. Rasping breaths were added to the mix, but he kept them rare so as to make sure he didn't overdo his little act and tip off the rogue hitokiri to his plan.

"It appears that you cannot go on any further Battousai! Do not feel too bad about it, for you fought well and truly showed for all to see the strength of Hitokiri Battousai." Jin-e said sounding as though his victory was at hand, "Now though, as all battles must, it is time to bring our little match to an end once and for all. With your death, I will become known as the man who defeated the strongest swordsman of the Revolution and even my former **employer** will not be able to take that away from me!"

"As for your friends here, take some comfort in knowing that I will not slay them. They're far too weak to be worth my time and attention." Udo declared sparing a moment to look contemptuously at the immobilized Scoobies, "No, I think it will be far more enjoyable to free them from my spell just as your lifeless body hits the ground so that I can revel in the grief stricken screams and see the sadness pouring from their eyes. Yes, that will be quite entertaining indeed!"

"This is the **END, BATTOUSAI!**" Jin-e Udo yelled as he charged forward to deliver the final blow.

From the first step that the rogue hitokiri took, time did seem to slow with everything appearing to take forever to move even a short distance. However this was just a trick of his mind because the moment his enemy began to attack he pooled all his focus, all his strength, into this last attempt to end this battle. He blocked out the wind that blew through the trees, he removed the sounds of Sunnydale from his mind, and all that his eyes could perceive ceased to exist as far as he was concerned. All that existed for him right now was his approaching target and the preparations within him to perform his trump card flawlessly and successfully. Even as drops of blood began to drop from the cut above his eye partially obscuring his vision he ignored it in favor of maintaining the strength of his focus. Like those corny cartoons where the entire screen is black save for the two golden spotlights on the fighters and a path of light connecting them nothing else existed for him. Nothing else **could** exist for him if he wanted to pull off this gambit successfully and so he allowed no distractions to enter his mind or his perceptions.

_Almost… just a little further… just a little more… __**NOW!**_He thought and with all the speed and power he could muster he began to execute the perfect Battojutsu Soryūsen.

It was in the half second after he began to draw his sword from its sheathe that a red and rainbowish form began to obstruct his line of sight to Udo. However he did not pause in his attack, figuring that it was just a leaf or perhaps a momentary reflection of light or something that would pass quickly. It was not until his eyes seemed to clear the obstruction that he began to perceive that something was amiss since he could now see a look of surprise on Jin-e's face. At first he thought that it might be because the madman was shocked at such an unexpected attack, but the expression on Udo's face didn't quite fit that scenario. It was only as his sword began to cut through flesh and bone in **two** places on the blade, from what he could perceive, that the first inkling of the truth began to hit him. That bit of the truth was hit home when rogue hitokiri's blade came towards his face but off to the side, as though its path had been altered somehow. It cut through his left cheek just deep enough to create a laceration that would leave a scar as he completed his Battoujutsu by following up the sword strike with his katana's sheathe. Again, it felt as though his sword hit two targets instead of one but the force and speed behind his attack kept him from doing anything but wait until his momentum played out. As it did though the supreme focus and discipline he'd enforced on himself in order to ensure his strategy's success dispersed inundating him with all that he had blocked out.

In less than two seconds he wished that he could never see, hear, smell or feeling emotions again.

EVER!

It was in those first few moments of sensory restoration that he was shown the one sight that would cause him unbearable pain for the rest of his days. Both in front of him and a few feet to his right lay the form of one of the people he had cut through with his katana. However, Jin-e Udo was not the only one who had been the only recipient of his Battoujutsu Soryusen, but also the one person he would give up his life for in an instant. Cut clean in two with everything from the upper stomach down before him and the rest spread out for about five feet or so to the right of him was his bestest bud in the whole world:

Willow!

In a moment of perfect clarity he now knew what the red and rainbowish thing had been that had obscured his sight as he performed his technique. He also now had an explanation for the deviation in the path of Udo's sword that caused his left cheek to be cut. Willow must have somehow freed herself from Jin-e's spell and tried to protect him, thinking he was unable to defend himself. His acting had been so good that it had fooled his most precious friend into leaping into harm's way to save him! She must have used some sort of mojo she'd practiced when she thought no one was looking to redirect the blade.

Not that that really mattered to him now.

All at once, his world was overcome in a storm of emotion, causing him to drop to his knees in pain no mere wound to the body could even come close to matching. Again and again, the replay of what he had done repeated itself in his mind's eye and each time before it started over again, he was tormented with an image of the redheaded genius during better times. Faster and faster the images came until suddenly a new sequence of events played out for him inside of his mind, featuring a snow covered clearing in the middle of some woods with only a broken down looking Japanese shrine standing at the far end of it. Step by step he was brought closer to it and with each step a growing sense of familiarity manifested within him about this place. Ten steps before he would have reached the bottom of the steps in front of the shrine its doors began to open of their own volition. Eight steps before the steps at the bottom of the shrine the doors finished opening and a form began to emerge from the darkness within. At seven steps a voice of the past that he recognized as his own began to grow louder in his mind until it was as if his past self was right next to him.

_I killed so many in order to protect the defenseless._

_In doing so, I took your happiness from you._

_Without thinking, I took the most important thing away from you._

_All this time that I have been falling in love with you, I have been unworthy of that gift._

_Even though I… I…_

By the time that the voice stopped, he was no more than five steps away from the bottom of the shrine. By then, the form emerging from the shrine was clearly perceivable to his eyes. It was a woman of Japanese descent, wearing a white kimono with a dark blue obi around her waist with red cloth sticking out of the top that was either wrapped around the kimono with the obi or was actually a part of the kimono. If one were to look at her, it would be easy to describe her as one of the nobility. She had a beauty uncommon to the middle class and her clothes spoke well of her station. However, it was the stream of red down her right side almost to the waist, the color of blood, that caught his attention and when she fully came into the sunlight a name echoed through his mind.

_Tomoe!_

All at once, a fierce feeling of sadness, grief and guilt washed over him to the point in which he was virtually drowning in it. So overwhelmed, he that he could not move and so did not move when she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, like a wife welcoming home her husband.

_You could have lived like this if you hadn't picked up a sword. You'd be happy with some land and seeds to plant now that we have the time._

It was then that the world around him, shifting back to the Sunnydale High School library. Also, it was no longer Tomoe that was hugging him lovingly, but his bestest bud Willow, looking as though it was just another day for the two of them.

_Well, you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life._

_Willow had feelings for…? _He thought in shock as all the little signs that he had glossed over as mere friendship or the acts of a growing young woman experimenting came to light.

Then, before he could fully come to terms with this revelation, the world returned to being the nightmare he had left it in, where the cheerful intelligent redhead he had known since pre-school had been cut in two by his own sword. It was all laid out for him now, both his memories of Tomoe during the days of the Meiji revolution and his life with Willow, both women had loved him dearly and he too cherished them albeit in different ways.

Tomoe existed as the first true love of Kenshin Himura, who helped him find an identity separate from his duties as a Hitokiri, nurturing the boy once called Shinta until his manslayer personae lost its dominant position over him. Willow was his shining light in the darkness created by the abusive behavior of his parents. It was because of her, he believed, that he had not slipped into the same way of thinking as his father. Both women had done him a great service and kept him from going down a path that would have ultimately destroyed him in one way or another. Both women ruled over a crucial part of his heart and as he got to know them he pledged that there was nothing he would not do for them in return for their kindness and love. The two of them became the most precious people in his respective lives, Kenshin Himura and Xander Harris, and now they shared another similarity with each other because of their connection to him.

Both had been slain by a sword wielded by him.

He had killed them both.

Killed them.

KILLED!

With unbearable agony, he dropped to his knees and voiced his grief for the world to hear in the most pain filled cry ever heard in the town of Sunnydale. Yet no matter how man times he cried out, whether it was two or three times, the pain within his chest only grew rather than lessen with the venting of his emotions into the air. Over and over again the deaths of Yukishiro Tomoe and Willow Rosenberg replayed in unbearable detail in his mind with each successive showing causing him more and more pain. Tears streamed down his cheeks even as the cut made by the rerouted sword of Jin-e bled away in a trickle down his left cheek. So severe was the pain, he though he would die from it at any moment but that release never came. He suffered for what felt like an eternity. So terrible was the pain that he almost didn't hear the approach of another and it wasn't until a katana blade was placed beneath his chin that he looked up to the person wielding it. Standing over him was Jin-e with one hand pressed to a series slash wound across his stomach while the other held the katana. The lust for the fighting and the killing had dimmed somewhat in the man's eyes but it still looked as though he would resume the duel sometime soon.

_I don't care. I welcome the death he can bestow upon me. _He thought no longer wanting to live and welcoming the release that oblivion offered.

"It would appear that no matter how much stronger I have become since we last fought during the early days of the Meiji era, I still cannot keep a foolish girl from getting in the way of our duel." Udo said with disdain but surprisingly little disrespect, "As you are now, I could kill you in an instant before you even managed to bring your sword to bear on me. I could finally claim victory over the strongest swordsman of the Revolution."

"Then why don't you?" he asked with a lifeless voice.

"I will not kill you because this is not the way I wished for our duel to end, with you on your knees and defenseless, so I will let you live." Jin-e replied as he sheathed his sword with only a moment of difficulty, "The pain you feel now is more than enough to satisfy me. Besides, now you are beyond my former employer's grasp like never before. It was he that sent these assassins after you and your friends in order to test you against truly skilled opponents. The attacks on the others were merely to conceal the fact that **you** were the primary target, **not** the Slayer."

This caused a jolt of realization to shoot through him as he remembered the group of bandits he'd killed, the death of his parents and the Battousai costume finding its way into his hands at Ethan's shop. Looking up at the rogue Hitokiri, he asked with his eyes for the madman to tell him who was that was ordering such things to happen in his life.

"I would tell you his name but I have no doubt that he has one of his lackeys watching us right now with a sniper rifle, waiting for me to say too much before firing." Udo said as a semblance of sanity and rational thinking came over him, "So instead I will merely say that history is beginning to repeat itsel—"

**CRACK**

A single gunshot echoed through the night. With a shower of black blood, the head of the rogue hitokiri Udo Jin-e exploded as a bullet from a hidden sniper went through it. The body's descent to the ground was accompanied by gasps of air as the Shin no Ippō was broken and those Scoobies that had been unable to break free as Willow had were returned to normal. However, with their movements and actions no longer restrained none of them believed that things would ever be normal again. How could they be now that one of their founding members lay dead and another was so traumatized by what he had done. Even now, the question of whether or not he mind would remain whole remained unanswerable. Buffy collapsed into the arms of her Watcher, tears flowing from the corner of her eyes as the pain of losing one of her sources of strength and knowing that fate had forever changed another. Rupert Giles did his best to console his charge, but he himself could scarcely keep himself from falling apart as well, for he had seen in the redhead the signs of a protégé as well as a surrogate daughter. All he could do was hold the blonde Slayer in his arms and utter a comforting word every now and again. As for Kendra, she stood alone for while. She felt sorry for the katana wielding demon hunter as well as her sister Slayer, but she was not a part of their group. She knew so little about them that she might as well be a stranger to them and so had no right to join them in their moment of grief. All she could do was stand there and decide that she had found the rising darkness she had been sent here to stop and knew that it was more widespread than had been originally thought.

For Xander Summers though, the seconds that followed were filled with a war within his mind as he tried to decipher his slain enemy's last words before he had been killed. He knew the man had been trying to say that history was beginning to repeat itself, but that could mean almost anything since history was no small thing. However, when he took into account that the rogue hitokiri might have been implying that it was **his** past that was about to repeat itself his amount of searching he had to do was greatly reduced. Looking through his mind, he tried to find the answer to who could have so carefully planned so many events without slipping up. Who was it from the past of Kenshin Himura that could be this cunning?

It was then he realized that Jin-e's words took on a double meaning because after a more thorough examination of the rogue hitokiri's words a blue flame of realization blossomed inside his mind. That flame burned brightly but then withdrew only to leave a man behind dressed in a light blue kimono and covered from head to toe in bandages. Looking into the man's eyes, one could not see the soul of a man but that of an animal, a hell beast, one that saw others as nothing more than meals for his own benefit. It was not until the man began to laugh in an evil, cruel and sadistic manner that the monster's name appeared in the reincarnated Kenshin's mind.

Shishio Makoto.

With that name, he knew that this would not be the end of his struggles. While the details of his encounters with Shishio remained shrouded in mist he knew enough that he was certain the man had some grand scheme in the works. A scheme that Makoto wanted to include him in but thanks to Jin-e's actions, were made impossible. What the scheme could have been, he did not know. What he did know was that the burnt man would not let anything or anyone get in his way. When recruiting one Xander Summers was no longer an option, he had become an obstacle to Shishio rather than a potential asset. To this man, obstacles were to be obliterated without mercy and it didn't matter who got hurt in the process so long as the problem was eliminated. Hearing Buffy's sobs, he looked up and realized that if Shishio was going to come after, him his friends would be caught in the crossfire.

Images of Giles, Joyce, Cordelia and Buffy being killed in various ways for no other reason than because they were close to him bombarded his mind. Makoto Shishio would have no problems whatsoever killing them if it meant that his old enemy the Battousai was taken out in the process.

_NO! I won't let that happen! I…_ he thought fiercely before his current failure surfaced in his mind once again, _But how can I possibly protect them when I killed…_

A shot of sadness, grief and pain stopped that thought in its tracks and it took a few moments for him to be able to think clearly again. When he could, he knew there was only one course of action he could take that would both ensure the safety of his friends and possibly provide him with the strength and skill to oppose Shishio. He knew he would have to oppose that man or else the world would be infected with the man's evil and more innocent people would be killed to suit his desires. Besides, if there was one thing he had learned since the Scooby gang had been founded, it was that evil **had to** be **opposed**. To stand by and do nothing would be an even worse than trying to stop it and failing.

With that in mind and his decision made, he knew what he had to do.

Forcing himself back to his feet he suppressed the pain he was feeling from his various wounds, he gave one final look to those that meant so much to him. Memorizing their faces in all their intricate detail, he gave them one final lopsided smile before turning and running away from them towards the streets of Sunnydale. He could hear both Giles and Buffy calling out to him, begging him to come back, but he blocked them out with all the strength he could muster. The pain he felt with each step he took was great, but he knew that this was what he had to do if there was to be any chance of them being reunited one day. So with a shaky, stone cold visage, he continued to run towards his first stop on the path he had chosen for himself.

He would see them all again one day.

He hoped he would at least.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at the Battlefield, From the Point of View of the Survivors 

"XANDER! Come back! PLEASE!" Buffy yelled desperately as she watched her closed male friend disappear into the night.

If he heard her he gave no indication of it in his movements. Before she could cry out again, he was gone, leaving Giles, Kendra and herself alone on the school lawn. Tears still trickled down her cheeks, but she didn't care because compared to the pain she was feeling right now looking like a strong battle hardened Slayer was irrelevant to her. The events of the past half hour had been burned into her soul and like all burns, even the slightest movement was enough to cause her pain. It seemed to unreal, like it couldn't possibly have happened, but the truth of the matter was that it was real and now she would have to deal with what came next. Willow was dead and now Xander was gone, leaving her with only Giles for support. Peripherally, she knew that in the coming days her mother would do her best to comfort her, but the Summers matriarch would not be able to understand the depth of the pain she felt or the hurting that was going on inside of Xander. She trembled when she tried to imagine the kind of suffering her best guy friend had to be going through right now. He, more than anyone, would be affected by Willow's death. They were childhood friends, and while the connection between the two might never have crossed into girlfriend boyfriend territory it was indeed close.

_I have to go after him! I can't let him go through this alone! _She thought as she began to disentangle herself from Giles.

"No Buffy. This is something that Xander has to deal with himself." Came a voice from behind them that sounded just as sad as the blonde Slayer felt, "We'd only make it harder for him if we went after him now."

Turning in the direction of the voice, Buffy was surprised to see her mother walking towards the trio and judging from the bruise that was on the right side of the seasoned woman's head, someone had hit her pretty hard. However, what caught the blonde Slayer's attention was the look in her mother's eyes that left no doubt that the elder Summers woman knew exactly what had happened and meant what she had said.

"But the pain he must be going through…!" Buffy countered not willing to give up on going after Xander just yet, "If we don't go after him he might…"

"No he won't kill himself . Right now, he thinks that getting away from us is the only way he can protect us." Joyce said finally reaching her daughter.

"Protect us from what?" Buffy asked wondering how her mother knew what Xander was thinking.

"Himself. He believes that by being near us, he is putting us in danger from the man that has been orchestrating events from behind the scenes. The bandits the night of the student exchange program dance, the Halloween spell and the assassins from the Order of Teraka were all this man's doing." Joyce said her voice turning to anger when she spoke of this unknown villain, "They were all **tests** meant to prepare Xander for a possible position in this man's organization!"

"H-how do you know all this?" Giles asked catching on to the way Joyce was speaking as being somewhat odd.

"I know this because I read his mind and learned of it first hand. I felt his determination as he fought Jin-e, I felt his desperation when he tried to end the fight in one blow and I couldn't help but feel his anguish when he realized what he'd done." Joyce replied in a serious tone making no one doubt that she was being completely honest, "Xander wasn't the only one who kept something from Halloween. I inherited a few things from the person I went dressed as, including telepathy, so trust me when I say that going after Xander will do more harm than good."

"Who did you go as?" Buffy asked almost wanting to take back her question the moment she asked it.

"Emma Frost, C.E.O of Frost International and former headmistress of the Massachusetts branch of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." Joyce replied with a certain tone that had to have come from her costumed personae, "So trust me when I say that I know more about what is going on inside of Xander's head than you do."

"Oh." Was all Buffy could say in response before the events of the past twenty-four hours took their toll causing her to faint dead away.

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Ten Days Later, Crestview Cemetery 

Standing before the grave that marked the resting place of the one that had been the source of his greatest joy, but also his greatest sorrow he wondered for a moment what he was supposed to do next.

After leaving the school grounds that night, he had stopped by Buffy's house to bandage his own wounds and pack what he would need for his journey. Using knowledge both old and new, he did a pretty competent job of dealing with his wounds. Once finished there, he had grabbed the biggest bag he could from the house that would still be easy for him to carry long distances. Several changes of clothes were put inside, along with a few other outfits he felt might be of use where he was planning on going. Adding some standard traveling stuff from the bathroom to the mix, he had been pretty much done before he looked at the two objects that would forever remind him of his arrogance and failure. Looking at his katana and wakizashi he could still see her blood on them even though he had cleaned them thoroughly the moment he got upstairs. There was a part of him want to throw them in the nearest furnace and watch them melt down to nothing before his eyes but he had known that the act would not rid him of the memories.

The memories would serve as reminders of his foolishness and he knew he would need the weapons again because Shishio would be coming after him sooner or later. Now that he had become an enemy rather than a potential tool to Makoto, it was inevitable that he would dispatch members of his forces to kill the one that had stood in his way before. He knew he would not be able to avoid killing again, no doubt it would take nothing short of that to defeat some of Shishio's agents, but he swore that he would look for other solutions first before drawing his sword again.

With the things he needed packed and his wounds for the most part patched up, he slipped out of the Summers home no more than two hours after he had entered it. He knew that Buffy, Giles and Mrs. Summers would be looking for him soon enough and while a part of him longed to receive some comfort for his pain, he knew he could not linger. Every second he stayed in Sunnydale was a second Shishio was no doubt spending trying to find and eliminate him. Therefore, he had looked about town for a place to dwell where no one who knew him or his past self would think to look for and hid from the rest of the world. Sleep hadn't been a plentiful thing for him the past ten days, nightmares of death and grief woke him repeatedly each night, but he did his best to get what rest he could. One might ask why he didn't leave town right away and the answer was right in front of him in all its cold stony indifference.

It was painful for him to stand where was, looking down at the gravestone of his closest friend, and he'd be lying if he said there wasn't a part of him that wanted to run away as fast as he could right then. However, he could not bring himself to leave town without paying his respects and saying goodbye to the one person he owed the most to.

"Hey Will'! I know I… I know I should have come sooner but I wanted to see you alone rather than when everyone else was around." He said, fighting to keep his voice steady, "After all, I can't let it get around that Xander Harris turns into a blubbering idiot at funerals right?"

Silence was the only thing that responded to his statement even though he could imagine how the redhead probably would have reacted.

"I… I just want to say I-I'm so sorry!" he said sadly as tears began to trickle down his cheeks, "I was such an idiot! How could I have thought that having the memories of Hitokiri Battousai would make me as good a swordsman as he was?! It took Kenshin **years** to become the legendary Battousai and **I** thought **I** could match him just because of what I gained at Halloween! I was a fool and now my cockiness has cost me the single most important person **in my LIFE!**"

Despite his efforts, he couldn't help it when a sob left his mouth and he dropped to his knees in front of the grave. Feelings of grief and self-loathing ran strong throughout him, but despite how easy it'd be to let them sweep him away he knew he had to finish what he came here to do.

"I'm going to be leaving Sunnydale today. If what Jin-e said was true, then it is only a matter of time before Shishio sends someone after me to finish what Udo started. That **monster** will not care what has to be done to bring me down and as I am now, I wouldn't stand a chance against his goons, much less him." He said as he managed to bring himself up to one knee, "There's only one way I can become strong enough to even stand a chance at defeating him and I can't do that here. I must regain my mastery over Hiten Mitsurugi and perhaps even go a few steps beyond that if I want to be able to stand against Shishio and his people."

As the moment of his departure from Sunnydale drew closer, he found himself delaying the end of his conversation with his departed friend. Leaving his hometown behind was going to be hard but he knew that it was something he had to do and so with a repression of his emotions, he continued with his goodbye.

"I d-don't know when I'll be back. I know that the majority of my memories as Kenshin Himura are still buried in my mind. Training with the current Hiten Mitsurugi master will likely be able to bring them back to the surface and with a little intense training, I should be able to bring my body to where it needs to be. Maybe then, when both my mind and my body are ready, I can come back here knowing that I'll be ready to face Shishio." He said uncertainty creeping into his voice here and there, "Until then, please look out for the others for me will ya? Give those angels in heaven a good shot with your resolve face if they don't get off their puffy clouds and help Buff'!"

A shaky chuckle left his mouth as he imagined Willow Rosenberg staring down an angel or two, forcing them to intervene to help Buffy. It didn't last long since just picturing the young woman who broke the yellow crayon back in pre-school brought the grief back something fierce. Riding out the worst of it, he soon regained his composure and decided to do one last thing before he left the cemetery. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a single red rose before kneeling down and putting it on Willow's gravestone as gently as he could.

"Goodbye my little Willow the wisp." He said as he tenderly stroked the gravestone before standing up.

With more willpower than most people would expect, he turned from the headstone and began to make his way to the cemetery's exit. Each step he took caused the pain to throb within him as acceptance finally took hold of him and the realization that Willow was gone from his life for good. It was a fact that caused him to hold a hand over his heart as the organ spasnmed in pain so real that he figured that a heart attack would probably be less painful. Nevertheless, he continued onward down the path he had chosen for himself and he could only pray that when he returned he'd have the means to make sure he never had to bury another friend like this again.

For if he did, it would most certainly destroy him.

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Okay folks! As of now this part of my Rurouni Kenshin/BtVS saga is complete and sadly I will be putting this idea on the shelf for a while. As some of you no doubt know I have quite a few works in progress to finish up and those fanfics have fans just as important as the ones for this fic wanting more. Do not think that this is the end of this fanfic crossover universe but rather think of this as the end of the beginning. I do plan on continuing with it but I want to complete a few of my other fanfics in progress before returning to do work on this universe. So all I can ask is for you to be patient and try to satisfy yourself on the other in progress fanfics as best you can until I feel the time has come to write the next book/episode/chapter/part of what I hope will become an epic saga respected by BtVS fanfic fans for at least a decade before it's forgotten. Thanks for all the great reviews since I started this and I hope you will stick around until the next episode comes out. I have even come out with a tentative title:

Rurouni Xander: Tales of a Wandering Zeppo

What do you think?


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